Service processing method, apparatus, and system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a service processing method, an apparatus, and a system that relate to the field of communications technologies and are used to reduce resource waste. The method includes: controlling, by a controller, a first node to send a received packet to a processing network; and controlling, by the controller, the processing network to process the packet and then send a processed packet to a second node. The first node is a base station or a network element connected to the base station, and the second node is a routing function entity; or the first node is the routing function entity, and the second node is the base station or a network element connected to the base station. The routing function entity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IP address of a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/958,313, filed on Apr. 20, 2018, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2015/092491, filed on Oct. 22, 2015,the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a service processing method, anapparatus, and a system.

BACKGROUND

Because a control plane and a forwarding plane of a mobile gateway arenot separated in an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a capacity of theEPC network cannot be expanded flexibly. To resolve the problem, thecontrol plane and the forwarding plane of the mobile gateway areseparated in the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematicdiagram of a network architecture in which a control function and aforwarding function of a mobile gateway are separated in an EPC network.A control plane 101 of a mobile gateway may determine a data processingrule related to a packet sent by a UE (user equipment), and delivers thedata processing rule to a forwarding plane 102 by using an interfacebetween the control plane 101 and the forwarding plane 102. Theforwarding plane 102 processes, according to the data processing rule, apacket sent by a base station 103 (an external network 104), and thensends a processed packet to the external network 104 (the base station103).

The forwarding plane integrates a point anchoring function of a user IP(Internet Protocol) address and multiple service processing functions.Therefore, the forwarding plane has an address resource and includes acomputing resource. The address resource that the forwarding plane hasdetermines a quantity of users who can be served by the forwardingplane, and the computing resource included in the forwarding planedetermines a quantity of packets that can be processed by the forwardingplane at a same moment. The computing resource in the forwarding planeusually remains unchanged after delivery of a device. The addressresource in the forwarding plane is allocated to a forwarding planedevice by means of configuration. Address resource configuration updaterelates to routing information update of a peripheral network element,and usually cannot be implemented in real time.

A quantity of users in the EPC network and a quantity of packets sent byall users at a same moment do not remain unchanged. Therefore, when theforwarding plane has insufficient address resources or computingresources, a forwarding plane needs to be added. However, when thequantity of users in the EPC network increases, and the quantity ofpackets sent by all the users at a same moment remains unchanged,addition of a forwarding plane causes waste of the computing resource;when the quantity of users in the EPC network remains unchanged, and thequantity of packets sent by all the users at a same moment increases,addition of a forwarding plane causes waste of the address resource.Even if the quantity of users increases, and the quantity of packetssent by all the users at a same moment also increases, the addressresource or the computing resource may be wasted.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a service processingmethod, an apparatus, and a system, so as to reduce resource waste.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the following technical solutionsare used in the embodiments of the present disclosure:

According to a first aspect, a service processing method is provided,including:

controlling, by a controller, a first node to send a received packet toa processing network; and

controlling, by the controller, the processing network to process thepacket and then send a processed packet to a second node; where thefirst node is a base station or a network element connected to the basestation, and the second node is a routing function entity; or the firstnode is the routing function entity, and the second node is the basestation or a network element connected to the base station; and therouting function entity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IPaddress of a user.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation,the processing network includes at least one processing function entity.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect,in a second possible implementation, the controlling, by a controller, afirst node to send a received packet to a processing network includes:

sending, by the controller, a first forwarding policy to the first node,where the first forwarding policy is used to control the first node tosend the received packet to a first processing function entity, thefirst processing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network, the first forwarding policy is generated accordingto an identifier of the first processing function entity and a trafficflow identifier, and the packet carries the traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the firstaspect, in a third possible implementation, the controlling, by thecontroller, the processing network to process the packet and then send aprocessed packet to a second node includes:

sending, by the controller, a corresponding processing policy and asecond forwarding policy to one or more processing function entities inthe processing network, where the processing policy is used to control aprocessing function entity that receives the processing policy toprocess the received packet according to the processing policy, thesecond forwarding policy is used to control a processing function entitythat receives the second forwarding policy to forward, according to thesecond forwarding policy, the packet processed by the processingfunction entity, the one or more processing function entities includethe first processing function entity, and the processing policy isgenerated according to the traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect,in a fourth possible implementation, the controlling, by a controller, afirst node to send a received packet to a processing network includes:

sending, by the controller, a first forwarding policy to the first node,where the first forwarding policy is used to control the first node toforward the received packet to a forwarder, so that the forwarderforwards the packet to a first processing function entity; and the firstprocessing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network.

With reference to the first possible implementation or the fourthpossible implementation of the first aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, the controlling, by the controller, the processingnetwork to process the packet and then send a processed packet to asecond node includes:

sending, by the controller, a corresponding processing policy to one ormore processing function entities in the processing network, where theprocessing policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the processing policy to process, according to the processingpolicy, the received packet sent by the forwarder, and then send theprocessed packet to the forwarder; and sending, by the controller, asecond forwarding policy to the forwarder, where the second forwardingpolicy is used to control the forwarder to forward the received packetaccording to the second forwarding policy, so that the packet reachesthe second node after the packet is sequentially processed by the one ormore processing function entities.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the first aspect,in a sixth possible implementation, the controlling, by the controller,the processing network to process the packet and then send a processedpacket to a second node includes:

sending, by the controller, a corresponding processing policy to one ormore processing function entities in the processing network, where theprocessing policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the processing policy to process, according to the processingpolicy, the received packet sent by the routing function entity, andthen send the processed packet to the routing function entity; and

sending, by the controller, a first forwarding policy to the routingfunction entity, where the first forwarding policy is used to controlthe routing function entity to forward the received packet according tothe first forwarding policy, so that the packet reaches the second nodeafter the packet is sequentially processed by the one or more processingfunction entities.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation of the first aspect,in a seventh possible implementation, when the first node is the basestation or the network element connected to the base station, thecontrolling, by a controller, a first node to send a received packet toa processing network includes:

sending, by the controller, a second forwarding policy to the firstnode, where the second forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to forward the received packet to the routing function entity, sothat the routing function entity forwards the packet to a firstprocessing function entity according to the first forwarding policy; andthe first processing function entity is a processing function entity inthe processing network.

With reference to the third possible implementation or the fifthpossible implementation or the seventh possible implementation of thefirst aspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the controllerincludes at least one processing controller and a routing controller,the routing controller is configured to send the first forwarding policyand the second forwarding policy, and the at least one processingcontroller is configured to send the processing policy.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the first aspect,in a ninth possible implementation, the controller includes at least oneprocessing controller and a routing controller, the routing controlleris configured to send the first forwarding policy to the first node andsend the corresponding second forwarding policy to the one or moreprocessing function entities, and the at least one processing controlleris configured to send the corresponding processing policy to the one ormore processing function entities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation of the first aspect,in a tenth possible implementation, the method further includes:

determining, by the routing controller, the traffic flow identifier, andsending the traffic flow identifier to the at least one processingcontroller; and

receiving, by the at least one processing controller, the traffic flowidentifier sent by the routing controller, and generating, according tothe traffic flow identifier, the processing policy corresponding to theone or more processing function entities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation or the tenthpossible implementation of the first aspect, in an eleventh possibleimplementation, the method further includes:

determining, by the at least one processing controller, the firstprocessing function entity; and sending, by a target processingcontroller, the identifier of the first processing function entity tothe routing controller, where the target processing controller is anyone of the at least one processing controller; and the routingcontroller is further configured to: receive the identifier of the firstprocessing function entity that is sent by the target processingcontroller, and generate the first forwarding policy according to theidentifier of the first processing function entity and the traffic flowidentifier.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the first aspect,in a twelfth possible implementation, the controller includes at leastone processing controller and a routing controller, the routingcontroller is configured to send the first forwarding policy to thefirst node, the at least one processing controller is configured to sendthe corresponding processing policy to the one or more processingfunction entities in the processing network, and the processing policyincludes the second forwarding policy.

According to a second aspect, a service processing method is provided,including:

receiving, by a processing function entity, a processing policy;

processing, by the processing function entity, a received packetaccording to the processing policy; and

forwarding, by the processing function entity, a processed packet.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation,before the forwarding, by the processing function entity, a processedpacket, the method further includes:

receiving, by the processing function entity, a second forwardingpolicy;

and the forwarding, by the processing function entity, a processedpacket includes: forwarding, by the processing function entity, theprocessed packet according to the second forwarding policy.

According to a third aspect, a controller is provided, including:

a control unit, configured to: control a first node to send a receivedpacket to a processing network, and control the processing network toprocess the packet and then send a processed packet to a second node,where the first node is a base station or a network element connected tothe base station, and the second node is a routing function entity; orthe first node is the routing function entity, and the second node isthe base station or a network element connected to the base station; andthe routing function entity is an anchor point of an Internet ProtocolIP address of a user.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation,the processing network includes at least one processing function entity.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the third aspect,in a second possible implementation, the controller further includes:

a sending unit, configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node, where the first forwarding policy is used to control thefirst node to send the received packet to a first processing functionentity, the first processing function entity is a processing functionentity in the processing network, the first forwarding policy isgenerated according to an identifier of the first processing functionentity and a traffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the trafficflow identifier.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in a third possible implementation, the sending unit is furtherconfigured to send a corresponding processing policy and a secondforwarding policy to one or more processing function entities in theprocessing network, where the processing policy is used to control aprocessing function entity that receives the processing policy toprocess the received packet according to the processing policy, thesecond forwarding policy is used to control a processing function entitythat receives the second forwarding policy to forward, according to thesecond forwarding policy, the packet processed by the processingfunction entity, the one or more processing function entities includethe first processing function entity, and the processing policy isgenerated according to the traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the third aspect,in a fourth possible implementation, the controller further includes:

a sending unit, configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node, where the first forwarding policy is used to control thefirst node to forward the received packet to a forwarder, so that theforwarder forwards the packet to a first processing function entity; andthe first processing function entity is a processing function entity inthe processing network.

With reference to the first possible implementation or the fourthpossible implementation of the third aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, the sending unit is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities in the processing network, where the processing policy is usedto control a processing function entity that receives the processingpolicy to process, according to the processing policy, the receivedpacket sent by the forwarder, and then send the processed packet to theforwarder; and the sending unit is further configured to send a secondforwarding policy to the forwarder, where the second forwarding policyis used to control the forwarder to forward the received packetaccording to the second forwarding policy, so that the packet reachesthe second node after the packet is sequentially processed by the one ormore processing function entities.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the third aspect,in a sixth possible implementation, the controller further includes:

a sending unit, configured to send a corresponding processing policy toone or more processing function entities in the processing network,where the processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the processing policy to process, according to theprocessing policy, the received packet sent by the routing functionentity, and then send the processed packet to the routing functionentity; and

the sending unit is further configured to send a first forwarding policyto the routing function entity, where the first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation of the third aspect,in a seventh possible implementation, when the first node is the basestation or the network element connected to the base station,

the sending unit is further configured to send a second forwardingpolicy to the first node, where the second forwarding policy is used tocontrol the first node to forward the received packet to the routingfunction entity, so that the routing function entity forwards the packetto a first processing function entity according to the first forwardingpolicy; and the first processing function entity is a processingfunction entity in the processing network.

With reference to the third possible implementation or the fifthpossible implementation or the seventh possible implementation of thethird aspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the controllerincludes at least one processing unit and a routing unit;

the routing unit is configured to send the first forwarding policy andthe second forwarding policy; and

the at least one processing unit is configured to send the processingpolicy.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the third aspect,in a ninth possible implementation, the controller includes at least oneprocessing unit and a routing unit;

the routing unit is configured to: send the first forwarding policy tothe first node, and send the corresponding second forwarding policy tothe one or more processing function entities; and

the at least one processing unit is configured to send the correspondingprocessing policy to the one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation of the third aspect,in a tenth possible implementation, the routing unit is furtherconfigured to determine the traffic flow identifier, and send thetraffic flow identifier to the at least one processing unit; and

the at least one processing unit is further configured to: receive thetraffic flow identifier sent by the routing unit, and generate,according to the traffic flow identifier, the processing policycorresponding to the one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation or the tenthpossible implementation of the third aspect, in an eleventh possibleimplementation,

the at least one processing unit is further configured to determine thefirst processing function entity; and a target processing unit sends theidentifier of the first processing function entity to the routing unit,where the target processing unit is any one of the at least oneprocessing unit; and

the routing unit is further configured to: receive the identifier of thefirst processing function entity that is sent by the target processingunit, and generate the first forwarding policy according to theidentifier of the first processing function entity and the traffic flowidentifier.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the third aspect,in a twelfth possible implementation, the controller includes at leastone processing unit and a routing unit;

the routing unit is configured to send the first forwarding policy tothe first node; and

the at least one processing unit is configured to send the correspondingprocessing policy to the one or more processing function entities in theprocessing network, where the processing policy includes the secondforwarding policy.

According to a fourth aspect, a processing function entity is provided,including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a processing policy;

an execution unit, configured to process a received packet according tothe processing policy; and

a forwarding unit, configured to forward a processed packet.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second forwardingpolicy; and

the forwarding unit is specifically configured to forward the processedpacket according to the second forwarding policy.

According to a fifth aspect, a controller is provided, including amemory and a processor; and

the memory stores a group of code, and the code is used to control theprocessor to perform the following actions:

controlling a first node to send a received packet to a processingnetwork, and controlling the processing network to process the packetand then send a processed packet to a second node, where the first nodeis a base station or a network element connected to the base station,and the second node is a routing function entity; or the first node isthe routing function entity, and the second node is the base station ora network element connected to the base station; and the routingfunction entity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IP address ofa user.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation,the processing network includes at least one processing function entity.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a second possible implementation, the controller further includes atransmitter; and

the transmitter is configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node, where the first forwarding policy is used to control thefirst node to send the received packet to a first processing functionentity, the first processing function entity is a processing functionentity in the processing network, the first forwarding policy isgenerated according to an identifier of the first processing functionentity and a traffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the trafficflow identifier.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the fifthaspect, in a third possible implementation, the transmitter is furtherconfigured to send a corresponding processing policy and a secondforwarding policy to one or more processing function entities in theprocessing network, where the processing policy is used to control aprocessing function entity that receives the processing policy toprocess the received packet according to the processing policy, thesecond forwarding policy is used to control a processing function entitythat receives the second forwarding policy to forward, according to thesecond forwarding policy, the packet processed by the processingfunction entity, the one or more processing function entities includethe first processing function entity, and the processing policy isgenerated according to the traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a fourth possible implementation, the controller further includes atransmitter; and

the transmitter is configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node, where the first forwarding policy is used to control thefirst node to forward the received packet to a forwarder, so that theforwarder forwards the packet to a first processing function entity; andthe first processing function entity is a processing function entity inthe processing network.

With reference to the first possible implementation or the fourthpossible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, the transmitter is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities in the processing network, where the processing policy is usedto control a processing function entity that receives the processingpolicy to process, according to the processing policy, the receivedpacket sent by the forwarder, and then send the processed packet to theforwarder; and

the transmitter is further configured to send a second forwarding policyto the forwarder, where the second forwarding policy is used to controlthe forwarder to forward the received packet according to the secondforwarding policy, so that the packet reaches the second node after thepacket is sequentially processed by the one or more processing functionentities.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a sixth possible implementation, the controller further includes atransmitter;

the transmitter is configured to send a corresponding processing policyto one or more processing function entities in the processing network,where the processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the processing policy to process, according to theprocessing policy, the received packet sent by the routing functionentity, and then send the processed packet to the routing functionentity; and

the transmitter is further configured to send a first forwarding policyto the routing function entity, where the first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a seventh possible implementation, when the first node is the basestation or the network element connected to the base station, thetransmitter is further configured to send a second forwarding policy tothe first node, where the second forwarding policy is used to controlthe first node to forward the received packet to the routing functionentity, so that the routing function entity forwards the packet to afirst processing function entity according to the first forwardingpolicy, and the first processing function entity is a processingfunction entity in the processing network.

With reference to the third possible implementation or the fifthpossible implementation or the seventh possible implementation of thefifth aspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the controllerincludes at least one processing controller and a routing controller;

the routing controller is configured to send the first forwarding policyand the second forwarding policy; and

the at least one processing controller is configured to send theprocessing policy.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a ninth possible implementation, the controller includes at least oneprocessing controller and a routing controller;

the routing controller is configured to: send the first forwardingpolicy to the first node, and send the corresponding second forwardingpolicy to the one or more processing function entities; and

the at least one processing controller is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a tenth possible implementation, the routing controller is furtherconfigured to determine the traffic flow identifier, and send thetraffic flow identifier to the at least one processing controller; and

the at least one processing controller is further configured to: receivethe traffic flow identifier sent by the routing controller, andgenerate, according to the traffic flow identifier, the processingpolicy corresponding to the one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the ninth possible implementation or the tenthpossible implementation of the fifth aspect, in an eleventh possibleimplementation, the at least one processing controller is furtherconfigured to determine the first processing function entity; and atarget processing controller sends the identifier of the firstprocessing function entity to the routing controller, where the targetprocessing controller is any one of the at least one processingcontroller; and

the routing controller is further configured to: receive the identifierof the first processing function entity that is sent by the targetprocessing controller, and generate the first forwarding policyaccording to the identifier of the first processing function entity andthe traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the fifth aspect,in a twelfth possible implementation, the controller includes at leastone processing controller and a routing controller;

the routing controller is configured to send the first forwarding policyto the first node; and

the at least one processing controller is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities in the processing network, where the processing policy includesthe second forwarding policy.

According to a sixth aspect, a processing function entity is provided,including a receiver, a memory, and a processor;

the receiver is configured to receive a processing policy; and

the memory stores a group of code, and the code is used to control theprocessor to perform the following actions: processing a received packetaccording to the processing policy, and forwarding a processed packet.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation,the receiver is further configured to receive a second forwardingpolicy; and

the processor is specifically configured to forward the processed packetaccording to the second forwarding policy.

According to a seventh aspect, a network system is provided, where thenetwork system includes: a controller, and a first node, a processingnetwork, and a second node that are connected to the controller;

the controller is configured to: control the first node to send areceived packet to the processing network, and control the processingnetwork to process the packet and then send a processed packet to thesecond node;

the processing network is configured to: receive the packet sent by thefirst node, and process, under control of the controller, the packet andthen send the processed packet to the second node;

the first node is configured to: receive the packet, and send, undercontrol of the controller, the packet to the processing network;

the second node is configured to receive the packet sent by theprocessing network; and

the first node is a base station or a network element connected to thebase station, and the second node is a routing function entity; or thefirst node is the routing function entity, and the second node is thebase station or a network element connected to the base station; and therouting function entity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IPaddress of a user.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possibleimplementation, the processing network includes at least one processingfunction entity, and each of the at least one processing function entityis connected to the controller.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a second possible implementation,

the controller is specifically configured to send a first forwardingpolicy to the first node, where the first forwarding policy is used tocontrol the first node to send the received packet to a first processingfunction entity, the first processing function entity is a processingfunction entity in the processing network, the first forwarding policyis generated according to an identifier of the first processing functionentity and a traffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the trafficflow identifier; and

the first node is specifically configured to: receive the firstforwarding policy sent by the controller, and forward the receivedpacket to the first processing function entity according to the firstforwarding policy.

With reference to the second possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a third possible implementation,

the controller is specifically configured to send a correspondingprocessing policy and a second forwarding policy to one or moreprocessing function entities in the processing network, where theprocessing policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the processing policy to process the received packet accordingto the processing policy, the second forwarding policy is used tocontrol a processing function entity that receives the second forwardingpolicy to forward, according to the second forwarding policy, the packetprocessed by the processing function entity, the one or more processingfunction entities include the first processing function entity, and theprocessing policy is generated according to the traffic flow identifier;and

each of the one or more processing function entities is specificallyconfigured to: receive a processing policy and a second forwardingpolicy that are corresponding to the processing function entity and aresent by the controller, process the received packet according to theprocessing policy, and forward, according to the second forwardingpolicy, the packet processed by the processing function entity.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a fourth possible implementation, the system further includesa forwarder connected to the controller;

the controller is specifically configured to send a first forwardingpolicy to the first node, where the first forwarding policy is used tocontrol the first node to forward the received packet to the forwarder;

the first node is specifically configured to: receive the firstforwarding policy sent by the controller, and forward the receivedpacket to the forwarder according to the first forwarding policy; and

the forwarder is configured to: receive the packet sent by the firstnode, and forward the packet to a first processing function entity,where the first processing function entity is a processing functionentity in the processing network.

With reference to the first possible implementation or the fourthpossible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, the controller is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities in the processing network, where the processing policy is usedto control a processing function entity that receives the processingpolicy to process, according to the processing policy, the receivedpacket sent by the forwarder, and then send the processed packet to theforwarder;

the controller is further configured to send a second forwarding policyto the forwarder, where the second forwarding policy is used to controlthe forwarder to forward the received packet according to the secondforwarding policy;

the forwarder is specifically configured to: receive the secondforwarding policy sent by the controller, and forward the receivedpacket according to the second forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities; and

each of the one or more processing function entities is specificallyconfigured to: receive a processing policy that is corresponding to theprocessing function entity and is sent by the controller; and process,according to the processing policy, the received packet sent by theforwarder, and then send the processed packet to the forwarder.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a sixth possible implementation,

the controller is further configured to send a corresponding processingpolicy to one or more processing function entities in the processingnetwork, where the processing policy is used to control a processingfunction entity that receives the processing policy to process,according to the processing policy, the received packet sent by therouting function entity, and then send the processed packet to therouting function entity;

the controller is further configured to send a first forwarding policyto the routing function entity, where the first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy;

the routing function entity is specifically configured to: receive thefirst forwarding policy sent by the controller, and forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities; and

each of the one or more processing function entities is specificallyconfigured to: receive a processing policy that is corresponding to theprocessing function entity and is sent by the controller; and process,according to the processing policy, the received packet sent by therouting function entity, and then send the processed packet to therouting function entity.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a seventh possible implementation, when the first node is thebase station or the network element connected to the base station,

the controller is further configured to send a second forwarding policyto the first node, where the second forwarding policy is used to controlthe first node to forward the received packet to the routing functionentity;

the first node is specifically configured to: receive the secondforwarding policy sent by the controller, and forward the receivedpacket to the routing function entity according to the second forwardingpolicy; and

the routing function entity is configured to: receive the packet sent bythe first node, and forward the packet to the first processing functionentity according to the first forwarding policy.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the controller includes atleast one processing controller and a routing controller, the routingcontroller is connected to the first node, the second node, and the oneor more processing function entities, and each of the one or moreprocessing function entities is connected to at least one of theprocessing controller;

the routing controller is specifically configured to: send the firstforwarding policy to the first node, and send the corresponding secondforwarding policy to the one or more processing function entities; and

the at least one processing controller is specifically configured tosend the corresponding processing policy to the one or more processingfunction entities.

With reference to the eighth possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a ninth possible implementation, the routing controller isconnected to each of the at least one of processing controller;

the routing controller is further configured to: determine the trafficflow identifier, and send the traffic flow identifier to the at leastone processing controller; and

the at least one processing controller is further configured to: receivethe traffic flow identifier sent by the routing controller, andgenerate, according to the traffic flow identifier, the processingpolicy corresponding to the one or more processing function entities.

With reference to the eighth possible implementation or the ninthpossible implementation of the seventh aspect, in a tenth possibleimplementation,

the at least one processing controller is further configured todetermine the first processing function entity; and a target processingcontroller sends the identifier of the first processing function entityto the routing controller, where the target processing controller is anyone of the at least one processing controller; and

the routing controller is further configured to: receive the identifierof the first processing function entity that is sent by the targetprocessing controller, and generate the first forwarding policyaccording to the identifier of the first processing function entity andthe traffic flow identifier.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation, the controller includesat least one processing controller and a routing controller, the routingcontroller is connected to the first node and the second node, and eachof the one or more processing function entities is connected to at leastone of the processing controller;

the routing controller is configured to send the first forwarding policyto the first node; and

the at least one processing controller is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities, where the processing policy includes the second forwardingpolicy.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation, the controller includes atleast one processing controller and a routing controller, the routingcontroller is connected to the first node, the second node, and theforwarder, and each of the one or more processing function entities isconnected to at least one of the processing controller;

the routing controller is specifically configured to: send the firstforwarding policy to the first node, and send the second forwardingpolicy to the forwarder; and

the at least one processing controller is specifically configured tosend the corresponding processing policy to the one or more processingfunction entities.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation of the seventhaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation, the controller includesat least one processing controller and a routing controller, the routingcontroller is connected to the first node and the second node, and eachof the one or more processing function entities is connected to at leastone of the processing controller;

the routing controller is specifically configured to: send the firstforwarding policy to the routing function entity, and send the secondforwarding policy to the first node; and

the at least one processing controller is specifically configured tosend the corresponding processing policy to the one or more processingfunction entities.

According to the method, the apparatus, and the system that are providedin the embodiments of the present disclosure, a forwarding plane isdivided into a processing network and a routing function entity. Theprocessing network is configured to process a packet, and therefore, theprocessing network includes a computing resource. The routing functionentity serves as an anchor point of a user IP address, and has anaddress resource. When a network has insufficient address resources, arouting function entity may be added. When the network has insufficientcomputing resources, a processing network may be added. Therefore,compared with the prior art, according to the method provided in theembodiments of the present disclosure, waste of an address resource or acomputing resource can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure more clearly, the following briefly describes theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or theprior art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the followingdescription show merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, andpersons of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawingsfrom these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture in which controland forwarding functions of a mobile gateway in an EPC network areseparated;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a service processing method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another service processing method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another service processing method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another service processing method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another service processing method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are a flowchart of another service processing methodaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are a flowchart of another service processing methodaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are a flowchart of another service processing methodaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of another controlleraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing functionentity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a controller according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another controlleraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a processing functionentity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a schematic architectural diagram of a network systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a schematic architectural diagram of another network systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a schematic architectural diagram of another network systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 is a schematic architectural diagram of another network systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 20 is a schematic architectural diagram of another network systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following clearly describes the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, thedescribed embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by persons ofordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the presentdisclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protectionscope of the present disclosure.

The character “/” in this specification generally indicates an “or”relationship between the associated objects. The “multiple” in thisspecification means two or more than two.

Embodiment 1

This embodiment of the present disclosure provides a service processingmethod. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the followingoperations:

Operation 201. A controller controls a first node to send a receivedpacket to a processing network.

Operation 202. The controller controls the processing network to processthe packet and then send a processed packet to a second node.

The first node is a base station or a network element connected to thebase station, and the second node is a routing function entity; or thefirst node is the routing function entity, and the second node is thebase station or a network element connected to the base station. Therouting function entity is an anchor point of a user IP address.

For example, the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be applied to at least an EPS (evolved packet system)network (all networks in the following specification are the network,and all schematic architectural diagrams of network systems areschematic architectural diagrams of a system of the network). The EPSnetwork includes an E-UTRAN (evolved universal terrestrial radio accessnetwork) and an EPC network.

In the present disclosure, the routing function entity is an anchorpoint of an IP address. This means that the routing function entity isresponsible for providing an IP routing capability for an IP addressallocated to UE by the routing function entity. That is, the routingfunction entity is responsible for receiving a downlink packet (a packetsent to the UE from an external network) whose destination IP is the IPaddress, and sending, to the external network, an uplink packet (apacket sent to the external network from the UE) whose source IP is theIP address. When the UE moves within an area, the routing functionentity is unchanged, so as to shield impact of UE movement on theexternal network, and anchor the IP address. In this case, the routingfunction entity has an address resource. The external network in thisembodiment of the present disclosure is a PDN (packet data network).

In specific implementation, the method may be based on an architectureof a network system shown in FIG. 16 in the following specification.After receiving a packet sent by the UE (the external network), a basestation (the routing function entity) forwards the packet to theprocessing network. The processing network processes the packet and thensends a processed packet to the routing function entity (the basestation). The routing function entity (the base station) forwards thepacket to the external network (the UE) after receiving the packet. FIG.16 shows, by using a solid line, an example of a path of a packet whenthe first node is a base station. The network element connected to thebase station in this embodiment of the present disclosure has a functionsame as the base station in this embodiment of the present disclosure.Therefore, only the base station is used as an example for descriptionin this embodiment of the present disclosure.

The UE in this embodiment of the present disclosure includes but is notlimited to a mobile phone, a network access terminal device, an Internetof Things terminal device, and the like. The base station is a devicethat provides wireless access for the UE, and includes but is notlimited to an eNodeB (evolved NodeB), a WiFi AP (Wireless Fidelityaccess point), a WiMAX BS (Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess base station), and the like. It should be noted that, for ease ofdescription, the UE and the external network are shown in FIG. 16 toFIG. 20. It should be noted that, the processing network in thisembodiment of the present disclosure is a network entity that includesat least one network node and that is used to process a packet.

According to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a forwarding plane is divided into a processing network anda routing function entity. The processing network is configured toprocess a packet, and therefore, the processing network includes acomputing resource. The routing function entity serves as an anchorpoint of a user IP address, and has an address resource. When a networkhas insufficient address resources, a routing function entity may beadded. When the network has insufficient computing resources, aprocessing network may be added. Therefore, compared with the prior art,according to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, waste of an address resource or a computing resource can bereduced.

In one embodiment, the processing network includes at least oneprocessing function entity. In this case, for an architecture of anetwork system, refer to FIG. 17 or FIG. 18 in the followingspecification.

Specifically, the processing function entity is configured to process areceived packet, and processing performed on the packet includes but isnot limited to execution of QoS (quality of service) control,online/offline charging, DPI (deep packet inspection), lawfulinterception, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) acceleration, HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) header enrichment, and the like. Oneprocessing function entity may perform multiple types of processing on apacket, or one processing function entity may perform one type ofprocessing on a packet. In this case, the processing function entity maybe a QoS processing entity, a charging processing entity, a DPIprocessing entity, or the like. In this case, because in this embodimentof the present disclosure, each processing function entity has only oneprocessing function, complex functions such as QoS control,online/offline charging, and DPI may be flexibly migrated. When anetwork system has a relatively large demand for a processing functionentity that has a processing function, only the processing functionentity may be added without adding a processing network, so that eachprocessing function entity can be flexibly migrated. An example in whichone processing function entity includes one packet processing functionis used for description in the following specification.

A controller in a network system may further include a routingcontroller and at least one processing controller. In this case, arouting control function and a processing control function of a controlplane are separated, so that deployment and coordination capabilities ofthe control plane are improved. In addition, the network system mayfurther include a forwarder.

The method includes multiple specific implementations, and the specificimplementations are separately described below.

In a process of describing each of the following four implementations,all mentioned traffic flow identifiers are a same traffic flowidentifier, all mentioned packets are packets that carries the trafficflow identifier, all mentioned processing polices, first forwardingpolicies, and second forwarding policies are processing policies andforwarding policies (processing polices, first forwarding policies, andsecond forwarding policies that are generated for different traffic flowidentifiers may be different) that are generated for the traffic flowidentifier. The traffic flow identifier may be an IP address of UE, IPquintuplets of a traffic flow, or the like.

Implementation 1

A schematic architectural diagram of a network system shown in FIG. 17includes a controller, a base station, a routing function entity, and aprocessing network. The processing network includes at least oneprocessing function entity (FIG. 17 is drawn by using an example inwhich the processing network includes four processing functionentities). In an architecture of the network system shown in thefollowing FIG. 17, as shown in FIG. 3, a specific implementation processof the foregoing method includes the following operations.

Operation 301. The controller sends a first forwarding policy to a firstnode, where the first forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to send a received packet to a first processing function entity.

The first processing function entity is the first one in the at leastone processing function entity that processes a packet.

The first forwarding policy may be generated according to an identifierof the first processing function entity and a traffic flow identifier.The traffic flow identifier may be an IP address of UE, IP quintupletsof a traffic flow, or the like. When the UE initially accesses anetwork, the IP address of the UE may be allocated and sent to thecontroller by the routing function entity, or may be allocated by thecontroller according to a preconfigured IP address segment correspondingto the routing function entity. The IP address of the UE may be an IPv4(Internet Protocol version 4) address, an IPv6 (Internet Protocolversion 6) address, or the like. When the traffic flow identifier is theIP quintuplets of the traffic flow, the controller may determine thetraffic flow identifier according to the IP address of the UE, adestination IP address in an access request that is sent by the UE andis used to request to access the network, or a service request sent bythe UE.

It should be noted that, after determining the traffic flow identifier,the controller may determine, according to the traffic flow identifier,processing logic corresponding to a packet that carries the traffic flowidentifier, that is, a processing function entity that the packet passesthrough.

An identifier of a processing function entity may be an IP address, aMAC (Media Access Control) address, a connection port number, a tunnelidentifier, or the like of the processing function entity.

Operation 302. The controller sends a corresponding processing policy toone or more processing function entities in the processing network,where the processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the processing policy to process the receivedpacket according to the processing policy.

The one or more processing function entities are all processing functionentities for processing a packet. For ease of description, in thefollowing specification, all processing function entities included inthe processing network are marked as N processing function entities, andall the processing function entities for processing a packet are markedas M processing function entities. The M processing function entitiesinclude the first processing function entity, 1≤M≤N, and M is aninteger.

It should be noted that, the network system includes the N processingfunction entities, but when a packet is to be processed, only one ormore of the N processing function entities may process the packet.

Specifically, the controller may generate, according to the traffic flowidentifier, a processing policy corresponding to each processingfunction entity. One processing function entity is corresponding to oneprocessing policy.

Operation 303. The controller sends a corresponding second forwardingpolicy to the M processing function entities, where the secondforwarding policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the second forwarding policy to forward, according to thesecond forwarding policy, a packet processed by the processing functionentity.

Specifically, the controller sends a corresponding second forwardingpolicy and processing policy to each of the M processing functionentities.

For example, when QoS control processing and then DPI processing need tobe performed on a packet, M may be equal to 2, and the M processingfunction entities may be a QoS processing entity and a DPI processingentity.

Second forwarding policies corresponding to the M processing functionentities may be the same or may be different. When the second forwardingpolicies corresponding to the M processing function entities are thesame, the second forwarding policy may be a general forwarding policygenerated according to the traffic flow identifier, identifiers of the Mprocessing function entities, and an identifier of a second node. Whenthe second forwarding policies corresponding to the M processingfunction entities are different, a second forwarding policycorresponding to a processing function entity may be generated accordingto the traffic flow identifier and an identifier of a next nodecorresponding to the processing function entity. A next nodecorresponding to a processing function entity is a target node to whichthe processing function entity needs to send a packet obtained after theprocessing function entity processes a received packet.

Based on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17, anexample in which the first node is the base station, and the second nodeis the routing function entity (it is assumed that an identifier of therouting function entity is B) is used. It is assumed that a sequence ofthe four processing function entities for processing a packet is: aprocessing function entity 1 whose identifier is 1—a processing functionentity 2 whose identifier is 2—a processing function entity 3 whoseidentifier is 3—a processing function entity 4 whose identifier is 4. Inthis case, the processing function entity 1 is the first processingfunction entity. After the packet passes through the base station, thepacket is processed by the four processing function entities, and then aprocessed packet is forwarded to the routing function entity. Therouting function entity forwards the received packet to an externalnetwork. A path of the packet is indicated by using a solid line in FIG.17.

In this case, when second forwarding policies corresponding to the fourprocessing function entities are the same, a form of the secondforwarding policy specific to the traffic flow identifier may be1-2-3-4-B. After receiving the second forwarding policy, each processingfunction entity can determine, according to an identifier of theprocessing function entity and the second forwarding policy, a next nodecorresponding to the processing function entity. When the secondforwarding policies corresponding to the four processing functionentities are different, the processing function entity 1 is used as anexample, and a second forwarding policy corresponding to the processingfunction entity 1 may include the traffic flow identifier and theidentifier 2. When receiving a packet, the processing function entity 1can determine, according to the second forwarding policy, to process thepacket and then forward a processed packet to a node (that is, theprocessing function entity 2) whose identifier is 2. The processingfunction entity 4 is used as an example, and a second forwarding policycorresponding to the processing function entity 4 may include thetraffic flow identifier and the identifier B. When receiving a packet,the processing function entity 4 can determine, according to the secondforwarding policy, to process the packet and then forward a processedpacket to a node (that is, the routing function entity) whose identifieris B. Each processing function entity can determine, according to asecond forwarding policy corresponding to the processing functionentity, a next node corresponding to the processing function entity.

A sequence for performing operation 301, operation 302, and operation303 is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Operation 304. The first node receives the first forwarding policy sentby the controller, and when receiving a packet, the first node forwardsthe received packet to the first processing function entity according tothe first forwarding policy.

Specifically, the first forwarding policy is generated according to theidentifier of the first processing function entity and the traffic flowidentifier. Therefore, when the first node receives a packet, if thepacket carries the traffic flow identifier, the first node determines,according to the first forwarding policy, to forward the packet to thefirst processing function entity.

Based on the path indicated by the solid line in FIG. 17, when receivinga packet, the base station forwards the received packet to theprocessing function entity 1 according to the first forwarding policy.

Operation 305. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding processing policy sent by the controller, and whenreceiving a packet, a processing function entity processes the packetaccording to a processing policy corresponding to the processingfunction entity.

Specifically, the processing policy is generated according to thetraffic flow identifier. Therefore, when the processing function entityreceives a packet, if the packet carries the traffic flow identifier,the processing function entity processes the packet according to theprocessing policy.

Operation 306. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding second forwarding policy sent by the controller, and afterprocessing a packet according to a processing policy corresponding to aprocessing function entity, the processing function entity forwards aprocessed packet according to the second forwarding policy.

For example, based on the path indicated by the solid line in FIG. 17,when a packet reaches the base station, the base station forwards thepacket to the processing function entity 1 according to the firstforwarding policy. The processing function entity 1 processes the packetaccording to a received processing policy, and then forwards a processedpacket to the processing function entity 2 according to a receivedsecond forwarding policy. The processing function entity 2 processes thepacket according to a received processing policy, and then forwards aprocessed packet to the processing function entity 3 according to areceived second forwarding policy. Actions performed by the processingfunction entity 3 and the processing function entity 4 are similar tothose performed by the processing function entity 1 and the processingfunction entity 2. Therefore, the packet can reach the routing functionentity after the packet is processed and forwarded by the processingfunction entity 1, the processing function entity 2, the processingfunction entity 3, and the processing function entity 4.

In a possible implementation, the controller may add the secondforwarding policy to the processing policy. In this case, operation 303and operation 306 may be omitted. The processing function entity maydirectly process and forward a packet according to the processingpolicy. In addition, the controller may include the second forwardingpolicy and the processing policy in a same message, and send the messageto the processing function entity.

In another possible implementation, the first forwarding policy and thesecond forwarding policy may be the same. In this case, the firstforwarding policy and the second forwarding policy may be a forwardingpolicy generated according to identifiers of nodes on an entire path onwhich a packet is forwarded.

Specifically, when the second node is the base station, after receivinga packet sent by the last processing function entity in the M processingfunction entities that processes a packet, the base station forwards thepacket to the UE. When the second node is the routing function entity,after receiving a packet sent by the last processing function entity inthe M processing function entities that processes a packet, the routingfunction entity forwards the packet to the external network.

Implementation 2

A schematic architectural diagram of a network system shown in FIG. 19includes a routing controller, at least one processing controller (FIG.19 is drawn by using an example of one processing controller), a basestation, a routing function entity, and a processing network. Theprocessing network includes N processing function entities (FIG. 19 isdrawn by using an example of four processing function entities). Basedon an architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 19, as shown inFIG. 4, a specific implementation process of the foregoing methodincludes the following operations.

Operation 401. The routing controller sends a first forwarding policy toa first node, where the first forwarding policy is used to control thefirst node to send a received packet to a first processing functionentity.

Specifically, for related explanation in Implementation 2, refer toImplementation 1.

The first forwarding policy may be generated according to an identifierof the first processing function entity and a traffic flow identifier.The traffic flow identifier may be an IP address of UE, IP quintupletsof a traffic flow, or the like. When the UE initially accesses anetwork, the IP address of the UE may be allocated and sent to therouting controller by the routing function entity or sent to the routingcontroller and the at least one processing controller by the routingfunction entity, or may be allocated by the routing controller accordingto a preconfigured IP address segment corresponding to the routingfunction entity.

Specifically, when the traffic flow identifier is the IP quintuplets ofthe traffic flow, the routing controller and the at least one processingcontroller may determine the traffic flow identifier in the followingseveral manners:

Manner 1: When a user initiates an access request to a network by usingthe base station, the at least one processing controller and the routingcontroller receive the access request, and generate the traffic flowidentifier according to a destination IP address included in the accessrequest and a first preconfiguration policy; or the at least oneprocessing controller and the routing controller generate the trafficflow identifier according to the IP address of the UE and a secondpreconfiguraion policy.

Manner 2: The routing controller determines the traffic flow identifier,and separately sends the traffic flow identifier to the at least oneprocessing controller. Each of the at least one processing controllerreceives the traffic flow identifier sent by the routing controller. Amethod for determining the traffic flow identifier by the routingcontroller may be as follows: When a user initiates an access request toa network by using the base station, the routing controller receives theaccess request, and generates the traffic flow identifier according to adestination IP address included in the access request and a firstpreconfiguration policy; or the routing controller generates the trafficflow identifier according to the IP address of the UE and a secondpreconfiguration policy.

Manner 3: When a user initiates a service request to a network by usingthe base station, the at least one processing controller and the routingcontroller receive the service request. Because the service requestincludes the traffic flow identifier, the at least one processingcontroller and the routing controller may determine the traffic flowidentifier according to the service request.

Operation 402. The at least one processing controller sends acorresponding processing policy to each of M processing functionentities, where the processing policy is used to control a processingfunction entity that receives the processing policy to process thereceived packet according to the processing policy.

When the network system has only one processing controller, operation402 includes: The processing controller sends a corresponding processingpolicy to each of the M processing function entities in N processingfunction entities. When the network system has N processing controllers,operation 402 includes: M processing controllers in the N processingcontrollers send a corresponding processing policy to each of the Mprocessing function entities in the corresponding N processing functionentities. One processing controller is corresponding to one processingfunction entity, and one processing function entity is corresponding toone processing policy.

Specifically, when the network system has only one processingcontroller, the processing controller may generate, according to thetraffic flow identifier, a processing policy corresponding to eachprocessing function entity. When the network system has N processingcontrollers, M processing controllers in the N processing controllersrespectively generate processing policies corresponding to the Mprocessing function entities.

Operation 403. The routing controller sends a corresponding secondforwarding policy to each of the M processing function entities, wherethe second forwarding policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the second forwarding policy to forward, accordingto the second forwarding policy, a packet processed by the processingfunction entity.

For example, when QoS control processing and then DPI processing need tobe performed on a packet, M may be equal to 2, and the M processingfunction entities may be a QoS processing entity and a DPI processingentity.

Second forwarding policies corresponding to the M processing functionentities may be the same or may be different. For details, refer todescription in Implementation 1.

Based on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 19, anexample in which the first node is the base station, and a second nodeis the routing function entity (it is assumed that an identifier of therouting function entity is B) is used. It is assumed that a sequence ofthe four processing function entities for processing a packet is: aprocessing function entity 1 whose identifier is 1—a processing functionentity 2 whose identifier is 2—a processing function entity 3 whoseidentifier is 3—a processing function entity 4 whose identifier is 4. Inthis case, the processing function entity 1 is the first processingfunction entity. After the packet passes through the base station, thepacket is processed by the four processing function entities, and then aprocessed packet is forwarded to the routing function entity. Therouting function entity forwards the received packet to an externalnetwork. A path of the packet is indicated by using a solid line in FIG.19.

In this case, when second forwarding policies corresponding to the fourprocessing function entities are the same, a form of the secondforwarding policy specific to the traffic flow identifier may be1-2-3-4-B. After receiving the second forwarding policy, each processingfunction entity can determine, according to an identifier of theprocessing function entity and the second forwarding policy, a next nodecorresponding to the processing function entity. When the secondforwarding policies corresponding to the four processing functionentities are different, the processing function entity 1 is used as anexample, and a second forwarding policy corresponding to the processingfunction entity 1 may include the traffic flow identifier and theidentifier 2. When receiving a packet, the processing function entity 1can determine, according to the second forwarding policy, to process thepacket and then forward a processed packet to a node (that is, theprocessing function entity 2) whose identifier is 2. The processingfunction entity 4 is used as an example, and a second forwarding policycorresponding to the processing function entity 4 may include thetraffic flow identifier and the identifier B. When receiving a packet,the processing function entity 4 can determine, according to the secondforwarding policy, to process the packet and then forward a processedpacket to a node (that is, the routing function entity) whose identifieris B. Each processing function entity can determine, according to asecond forwarding policy corresponding to the processing functionentity, a next node corresponding to the processing function entity.

A sequence for performing operation 401, operation 402, and operation403 is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Operation 404. The first node receives the first forwarding policy sentby the routing controller, and when receiving a packet, the first nodeforwards the received packet to the first processing function entity.

Specifically, the first forwarding policy is generated according to theidentifier of the first processing function entity and the traffic flowidentifier. Therefore, when the first node receives a packet, if thepacket carries the traffic flow identifier, the first node determines,according to the first forwarding policy, to forward the packet to thefirst processing function entity.

Based on the path indicated by the solid line in FIG. 19, when receivinga packet, the first node forwards the received packet to the processingfunction entity 1 according to the first forwarding policy.

Operation 405. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding processing policy sent by the at least one processingcontroller, and when receiving a packet, a processing function entityprocesses the packet according to a processing policy corresponding tothe processing function entity.

Specifically, the processing policy is generated according to thetraffic flow identifier. Therefore, when the processing function entityreceives a packet, if the packet carries the traffic flow identifier,the processing function entity processes the packet according to theprocessing policy.

Operation 406. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding second forwarding policy sent by the routing controller,and after processing a packet according to a processing policycorresponding to a processing function entity, the processing functionentity forwards a processed packet according to the second forwardingpolicy.

For example, based on the path indicated by the solid line in FIG. 19,when a packet reaches the base station, the base station forwards thepacket to the processing function entity 1 according to the firstforwarding policy. The processing function entity 1 processes the packetaccording to a received processing policy, and then forwards a processedpacket to the processing function entity 2 according to a receivedsecond forwarding policy. The processing function entity 2 processes thepacket according to a received processing policy, and then forwards aprocessed packet to the processing function entity 3 according to areceived second forwarding policy. Actions performed by the processingfunction entity 3 and the processing function entity 4 are similar tothose performed by the processing function entity 1 and the processingfunction entity 2. Therefore, the packet can reach the routing functionentity after the packet is processed and forwarded by the processingfunction entity 1, the processing function entity 2, the processingfunction entity 3, and the processing function entity 4.

Specifically, when the second node is the base station, after receivinga packet sent by the last processing function entity in the M processingfunction entities that processes a packet, the base station forwards thepacket to the UE. When the second node is the routing function entity,after receiving a packet sent by the last processing function entity inthe M processing function entities that processes a packet, the routingfunction entity forwards the packet to the external network.

In a possible implementation, the at least one processing controller mayadd the second forwarding policy to the processing policy. In this case,the second forwarding policy may be generated by the at least oneprocessing controller, operation 403 and operation 406 may be omitted.Operation 402 includes: The at least one processing controller sends acorresponding processing policy to each of M processing functionentities in N processing function entities. The processing policyincludes the second forwarding policy. In addition, the at least oneprocessing controller may include the second forwarding policy and theprocessing policy in a same message, and send the message to theprocessing function entity.

In another possible implementation, the first forwarding policy and thesecond forwarding policy may be the same. In this case, the firstforwarding policy and the second forwarding policy may be a forwardingpolicy generated according to identifiers of nodes on an entire path onwhich a packet is forwarded.

In this case, the routing controller delivers only the first forwardingpolicy. Therefore, the routing controller may not have a function ofdetermining, according to each traffic flow identifier, processing logiccorresponding to the traffic flow identifier, and the routing controllerneeds to obtain the identifier of the first processing function entity,to generate the first forwarding policy. A specific obtaining mannerincludes: The at least one processing controller determines the firstprocessing function entity, and a target processing controller sends theidentifier of the first processing function entity to the routingcontroller. The target processing controller is any one of the at leastone processing controller. The routing controller is further configuredto receive the identifier of the first processing function entity thatis sent by the target processing controller.

Specifically, the first processing function entity may be preconfigured.For example, QoS control processing can be first performed on eachpacket. In this case, the first processing function entity is a QoSprocessing entity. The first processing function entity may bedetermined by means of negotiation by the at least one processingcontroller.

Implementation 3

On the basis of FIG. 17, a schematic architectural diagram of a networksystem shown in FIG. 18 further includes a forwarder (FIG. 18 is drawnby using an example of two processing function entities). On the basisof FIG. 19, a schematic architectural diagram of a network system shownin FIG. 20 further includes a forwarder (FIG. 20 is drawn by using anexample of two processing function entities and two processingcontrollers). The implementation may be based on an architecture of thenetwork system shown in FIG. 18 or FIG. 20. When the implementation isbased on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 18, thenetwork system includes a controller, and operation 501 to operation 503are all performed by the controller. When the implementation is based onthe architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 20, the networksystem includes a routing controller and at least one processingcontroller, both operation 501 and operation 503 are performed by therouting controller, and operation 502 is performed by the at least oneprocessing controller.

As shown in FIG. 5, in specific implementation, the foregoing methodincludes the following operations.

Operation 501. Send a first forwarding policy to a first node.

The first forwarding policy is used to control the first node to forwarda received packet to the forwarder. The first forwarding policy may begenerated according to an identifier of the forwarder and a traffic flowidentifier. For specific description of the traffic flow identifier,refer to Implementation 1. The identifier of the forwarder may be an IPaddress, a MAC address, a connection port number, a tunnel identifier,or the like of the forwarder.

It should be noted that, when the implementation is based on thearchitecture of the network system shown in FIG. 18 (FIG. 20), afterdetermining the traffic flow identifier, the controller (the routingcontroller) may determine, according to the traffic flow identifier,processing logic corresponding to a packet that carries the traffic flowidentifier, that is, a processing function entity that the packet passesthrough.

Operation 502. Send a corresponding processing policy to each of Mprocessing function entities.

Meanings of the M processing function entities in this implementationand those of M processing function entities in Implementation 4 are thesame as meanings of the M processing function entities in Implementation1.

Specifically, a processing policy corresponding to each processingfunction entity may be generated according to the traffic flowidentifier, and one processing function entity is corresponding to oneprocessing policy. A processing policy sent to a processing functionentity is used by the processing function entity to process a receivedpacket according to the processing policy.

Operation 503. Send a second forwarding policy to the forwarder.

Specifically, the second forwarding policy may be generated according tothe traffic flow identifier, identifiers of the M processing functionentities, and an identifier of a second node. Based on the architectureof the network system shown in FIG. 18 or FIG. 20, an example in whichthe first node is a base station, and the second node is a routingfunction entity (it is assumed that an identifier of the routingfunction entity is B) is used. A sequence of the two processing functionentities for processing a packet is: a processing function entity 1whose identifier is 1—a processing function entity 2 whose identifier is2. In this case, a form of the second forwarding policy specific to thetraffic flow identifier may be 1-2-B. After the forwarder receives thesecond forwarding policy, when receiving a packet from the processingfunction entity 1, the forwarder can determine, according to the secondforwarding policy, that a next node to which the packet is to beforwarded is a node (that is, the processing function entity 2) whoseidentifier is 2. A path of the packet is indicated by using a solid linein FIG. 18 and FIG. 20.

It should be noted that, only one form of the second forwarding policyis shown in the present disclosure as an example, but it does notindicate that the second forwarding policy has only the form. Forexample, when the identifier of the forwarder is C, a form of the secondforwarding policy specific to the traffic flow identifier may be further1-C-2-C-B.

A sequence for performing operation 501, operation 502, and operation503 is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Operation 504. The first node receives the first forwarding policy, andwhen receiving a packet, the first node forwards the received packet tothe forwarder according to the first forwarding policy.

Specifically, the first forwarding policy is generated according to theidentifier of the forwarder and the traffic flow identifier. Therefore,when receiving a packet, the first node can determine, according to thefirst forwarding policy, that a next node to which the packet needs tobe forwarded is the forwarder.

Based on the path indicated by the solid line shown in FIG. 18 or FIG.20, when receiving a packet, the base station forwards the receivedpacket to the forwarder according to the first forwarding policy.

Operation 505. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding processing policy, and when receiving a packet sent by theforwarder, a processing function entity processes the received packetaccording to a processing policy corresponding to the processingfunction entity and then sends a processed packet to the forwarder.

Specifically, a next node corresponding to each processing functionentity may be preconfigured as the forwarder, or the identifier of theforwarder may be added to the processing policy corresponding to eachprocessing function entity. The added identifier is used to notify theprocessing function entity of a corresponding next node.

Operation 506. The forwarder receives the second forwarding policy, andforwards a received packet according to the second forwarding policy, sothat the packet reaches a second node after the packet is sequentiallyprocessed by the M processing function entities.

Specifically, the forwarder may perform the following action accordingto the second forwarding policy: When receiving a packet sent by a thirdnode, the forwarder forwards the packet to a fourth node. When the thirdnode is the first node, the fourth node is a first processing functionentity. When the third node is an M^(th) processing function entity, thefourth node is the second node. When M≥2 and the third node is an m^(th)processing function entity, the fourth node is an (m+1)^(th) processingfunction entity. A sequence of the M processing function entities forprocessing a packet is from the first processing function entity to theM^(th) processing function entity, 1≤m≤M−1, M≤N, and both m and M areintegers.

It should be noted that, when M=1, after receiving a packet sent by thefirst processing function entity, the forwarder directly forwards thepacket to the routing function entity according to the second forwardingpolicy.

For example, based on the path indicated by the solid line in FIG. 18 orFIG. 20, when a packet reaches the base station, the base stationforwards the packet to the forwarder according to the first forwardingpolicy. The forwarder determines, according to the second forwardingpolicy, that nodes that the packet passes through are sequentially: anode (that is, the processing function entity 1) whose identifier is 1—anode (that is, the processing function entity 2) whose identifier is 2—anode (that is, the routing function entity) whose identifier is B.Therefore, the forwarder forwards, to the processing function entity 1according to the second forwarding policy, the received packet sent bythe base station. The processing function entity 1 processes, accordingto a corresponding processing policy, the received packet sent by theforwarder, and then forwards a processed packet to the forwarder. Afterreceiving the packet sent by the processing function entity 1, theforwarder forwards the packet to the processing function entity 2according to the second forwarding policy. The processing functionentity 2 processes, according to a corresponding processing policy, thereceived packet sent by the forwarder, and then forwards a processedpacket to the forwarder. After receiving the packet sent by theprocessing function entity 2, the forwarder forwards the packet to therouting function entity according to the second forwarding policy.

Specifically, when the second node is the base station, and whenreceiving a packet sent by the forwarder, the base station forwards thepacket to UE. When the second node is the routing function entity, andwhen receiving a packet sent by the forwarder, the routing functionentity forwards the packet to an external network.

It should be noted that, when the implementation is based on thearchitecture of the network system shown in FIG. 18, the firstforwarding policy, the second forwarding policy, and the processingpolicy are all generated by the controller. When the implementation isbased on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 20, andwhen the network system has only one processing controller, operation502 includes: The processing controller sends a corresponding processingpolicy to each of the M processing function entities in N processingfunction entities. When the network system has N processing controllers,operation 502 includes: M processing controllers in the N processingcontrollers send a corresponding processing policy to each of the Mprocessing function entities in the corresponding N processing functionentities. One processing controller is corresponding to one processingfunction entity. Correspondingly, the first forwarding policy and thesecond forwarding policy are generated by the routing controller, andthe processing policy is generated by the at least one processingcontroller.

In a possible implementation, the first forwarding policy and the secondforwarding policy may be the same. In this case, the first forwardingpolicy and the second forwarding policy may be a forwarding policygenerated according to identifiers of nodes on an entire path on which apacket is forwarded.

In Implementation 3, the forwarder is added in the network system.Compared with Implementation 1, the controller or the routing controllerdoes not need to send the second forwarding policy to each processingfunction entity any longer. Therefore, a quantity of pieces of controlsignaling may be decreased.

In the implementation, it should be noted that, the base station mayinclude multiple first forwarding policies corresponding to multipletraffic flow identifiers. One traffic flow identifier is correspondingto one first forwarding policy. When receiving a packet, the basestation first determines, according to a traffic flow identifier carriedin the packet, a first forwarding policy corresponding to the trafficflow identifier, and then forwards the packet according to the firstforwarding policy. Actions performed by the processing function entity,the forwarder, and the routing function entity are similar to thoseperformed by the base station. Therefore, the first forwarding policy,the second forwarding policy, and the processing policy all include atraffic flow identifier.

Implementation 4

The implementation may be based on the architecture of the networksystem shown in FIG. 17 or FIG. 19. When the implementation is based onthe architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17, the networksystem includes a controller, and operation 601 to operation 603 are allperformed by the controller. When the implementation is based on thearchitecture of the network system shown in FIG. 19, the network systemincludes a routing controller and at least one processing controller,operation 601 is performed by the at least one processing controller,and operation 602 and operation 603 are performed by the routingcontroller.

As shown in FIG. 6, in specific implementation, the foregoing methodincludes the following operations.

Operation 601. Send a corresponding processing policy to each of Mprocessing function entities.

Specifically, a processing policy corresponding to each processingfunction entity may be generated according to a traffic flow identifier,and one processing function entity is corresponding to one processingpolicy. A processing policy sent to a processing function entity is usedby the processing function entity to process a received packet accordingto the processing policy.

Operation 602. Send a first forwarding policy to a routing functionentity.

Specifically, when the first node is a base station, the firstforwarding policy may be generated according to the traffic flowidentifier and identifiers of the M processing function entities. Whenthe first node is a routing function entity, the first forwarding policymay be generated according to the traffic flow identifier, theidentifiers of the M processing function entities, and an identifier ofa second node. Based on the architecture of the network system shown inFIG. 17 or FIG. 19, an example in which the first node is the routingfunction entity, and the second node is the base station (it is assumedthat an identifier of the base station is A) is used. A sequence of twoprocessing function entities for processing a packet is: a processingfunction entity 2 whose identifier is 2—a processing function entity 1whose identifier is 1. In this case, a form of the first forwardingpolicy specific to the traffic flow identifier may be 2-1-A. A path ofthe packet is indicated by using a dashed line in FIG. 17 and FIG. 19.

Operation 603. Send a second forwarding policy to a first node.

The second forwarding policy may be generated according to an identifierof the routing function entity and the traffic flow identifier. Forspecific description of the traffic flow identifier, refer toImplementation 1. The identifier of the routing function entity may bean IP address, a MAC address, a connection port number, a tunnelidentifier, or the like of the routing function entity.

It should be noted that, when the implementation is based on thearchitecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17 (FIG. 19), afterdetermining the traffic flow identifier, the controller (the routingcontroller) may determine, according to the traffic flow identifier,processing logic corresponding to a packet that carries the traffic flowidentifier, that is, a processing function entity that the packet passesthrough.

A sequence for performing operation 601, operation 602, and operation603 is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Operation 604. The first node receives the second forwarding policy, andwhen receiving a packet, the first node forwards the packet to therouting function entity according to the second forwarding policy.

Operation 605. Each of the M processing function entities receives acorresponding processing policy, and when receiving a packet sent by therouting function entity, a processing function entity processes,according to a processing policy corresponding to the processingfunction entity, the received packet sent by the routing functionentity, and then forwards a processed packet to the routing functionentity.

Specifically, a next node corresponding to each processing functionentity may be preconfigured as the routing function entity, or theidentifier of the routing function entity may be added to the processingpolicy corresponding to each processing function entity. The addedidentifier is used to notify the processing function entity of acorresponding next node.

Operation 606. The routing function entity receives the first forwardingpolicy, and forwards the received packet according to the firstforwarding policy, so that the packet reaches a second node after thepacket is sequentially processed by the M processing function entities.

Specifically, the routing function entity performs the following actionaccording to the first forwarding policy: When receiving a packet sentby a third node, the routing function entity forwards the packet to afourth node. When the third node is the base station, the fourth node isa first processing function entity. When M≥2 and the third node is anm^(th) processing function entity, the fourth node is an (m+1)^(th)processing function entity. Alternatively, when the third node is anexternal network, the fourth node is a first processing function entity.When M≥2 and the third node is an m^(th) processing function entity, thefourth node is an (m+1)^(th) processing function entity. When the thirdnode is an M^(th) processing function entity, the fourth node is thebase station. A sequence of the M processing function entities forprocessing a packet is sequentially from the first processing functionentity to the M^(th) processing function entity, 1≤m≤M−1, M≤N, and bothm and M are integers.

It should be noted that, when the first node is the base station, thebase station needs to forward a packet to the routing function entity,so that the routing function entity forwards the packet according to thefirst forwarding policy. Therefore, the routing controller needs to sendthe second forwarding policy to the base station. However, when thefirst node is the routing function entity, a packet sent by the externalnetwork directly reaches the routing function entity. Therefore, therouting function entity can directly forward the packet according to thefirst forwarding policy. Therefore, when the first node is the routingfunction entity, operation 603 and operation 604 may be omitted.

Based on the path, of a packet, indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 17(FIG. 19), when a packet reaches the routing function entity, therouting function entity determines, according to the first forwardingpolicy, that nodes that the packet passes through are sequentially: anode (that is, the processing function entity 2) whose identifier is 2—anode (that is, the processing function entity 1) whose identifier is 1—anode (that is, the base station) whose identifier is A. Therefore, therouting function entity forwards the packet to the processing functionentity 2 according to the first forwarding policy. The processingfunction entity 2 processes, according to a corresponding processingpolicy, the received packet sent by the routing function entity, andthen sends a processed packet to the routing function entity. Afterreceiving the packet sent by the processing function entity 2, therouting function entity forwards the packet to the processing functionentity 1 according to the first forwarding policy. The processingfunction entity 1 processes, according to a corresponding processingpolicy, the received packet sent by the routing function entity, andthen sends a processed packet to the routing function entity. Afterreceiving the packet sent by the processing function entity 1, therouting function entity forwards the packet to the base station.

Specifically, when the second node is the base station, and whenreceiving a packet sent by the routing function entity, the base stationforwards the packet to UE. When the second node is the routing functionentity, and when receiving a packet sent by the last processing functionentity in the M processing function entities that processes a packet,the routing function entity forwards the packet to the external network.

It should be noted that, when the implementation is based on thearchitecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17, the firstforwarding policy, the second forwarding policy, and the processingpolicy are all generated by the controller.

When the implementation is based on the architecture of the networksystem shown in FIG. 19, and when the network system has only oneprocessing controller, operation 601 includes: The processing controllersends a corresponding processing policy to each of the M processingfunction entities in N processing function entities. When the networksystem has N processing controllers, operation 601 includes: Mprocessing controllers in the N processing controllers send acorresponding processing policy to each of the M processing functionentities in the corresponding N processing function entities. Oneprocessing controller is corresponding to one processing functionentity. Correspondingly, the first forwarding policy and the secondforwarding policy are generated by the routing controller, andprocessing policies corresponding to the N processing function entitiesare generated by the at least one processing controller.

In a possible implementation, the first forwarding policy and the secondforwarding policy may be the same. In this case, the first forwardingpolicy and the second forwarding policy may be a forwarding policygenerated according to identifiers of nodes on an entire path on which apacket is forwarded.

In Implementation 4, functions of the forwarder in Implementation 3 areintegrated into the routing function entity. Compared withImplementation 1 and Implementation 2, when the forwarder is not added,the controller or the routing controller does not need to send thesecond forwarding policy to each processing function entity any longer.Therefore, a quantity of pieces of control signaling is decreased.

It should be noted that, the routing function entity may includemultiple first forwarding policies corresponding to multiple trafficflow identifiers. One traffic flow identifier is corresponding to onefirst forwarding policy. When receiving a packet, the routing functionentity first determines, according to a traffic flow identifier carriedin the packet, a first forwarding policy corresponding to the trafficflow identifier, and then forwards the packet according to the firstforwarding policy. Actions performed by the processing function entityand the base station are similar to those performed by the routingfunction entity. Therefore, the first forwarding policy, the secondforwarding policy, and the processing policy all include a traffic flowidentifier.

It should be emphasized that, in all processes of describing the fourimplementations, an example in which the forwarding policy and theprocessing policy are specific to an uplink packet or a downlink packetis used for describing the method provided in the present disclosure.Actually, in specific implementation, after the traffic flow identifieris determined, a forwarding policy and a processing policy may begenerated for the downlink packet according to a downlinkpreconfiguration policy, a forwarding policy and a processing policy maybe generated for the uplink packet according to an uplinkpreconfiguration policy, and these policies are delivered to acorresponding device.

Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, an example in which a packet (that is, an uplinkpacket) sent by UE needs to be processed by a processing function entity1 and a processing function entity 2, and the UE sends a service requestbefore sending the packet is used for describing Implementation 1 andImplementation 2. For related explanation in this embodiment, refer todescription in Implementation 1 and Implementation 2.

A method provided in this embodiment may be applied to the architectureof the network system shown in FIG. 17 or FIG. 19. When this embodimentis based on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17,operation 701 to operation 704 are all performed by a controller. Whenthis embodiment is based on the architecture of the network system shownin FIG. 19, operation 701 is performed by a routing controller and aprocessing controller (an example in which the network system includes aprocessing controller and a routing controller is used in thisembodiment), operation 702 and operation 703 are performed by therouting controller, and operation 704 is performed by the processingcontroller.

As shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, in specific implementation, theforegoing method includes the following operations.

Operation 701. Receive a service request sent by the UE, and determine atraffic flow identifier 1 according to the service request.

Specifically, the service request includes the traffic flowidentifier 1. The traffic flow identifier 1 may be an IP address of theUE, IP quintuplets of a traffic flow, or the like.

Operation 702. Generate a first forwarding policy according to anidentifier of the processing function entity 1 and the traffic flowidentifier 1, and send the first forwarding policy to a base station.

An identifier of a processing function entity may be an IP address, aMAC address, a connection port number, a tunnel identifier, or the likeof the processing function entity. The processing function entity 1 isthe first one that processes a packet carrying the traffic flowidentifier 1.

Operation 703. Generate, according to an identifier of the processingfunction entity 2 and the traffic flow identifier 1, a second forwardingpolicy 1 corresponding to the processing function entity 1; generate,according to an identifier of a routing function entity and the trafficflow identifier 1, a second forwarding policy 2 corresponding to theprocessing function entity 2; and send the second forwarding policy 1 tothe processing function entity 1, and send the second forwarding policy2 to the processing function entity 2.

For example, it is assumed that the identifier of the routing functionentity is B, the identifier of the processing function entity 1 is 1,and the identifier of the processing function entity 2 is 2. In thiscase, the second forwarding policy 1 includes the traffic flowidentifier 1 and the identifier 2, and the second forwarding policy 2includes the traffic flow identifier 1 and the identifier B.

Operation 704. Generate, according to the traffic flow identifier 1, aprocessing policy 1 corresponding to the processing function entity 1and a processing policy 2 corresponding to the processing functionentity 2; and send the processing policy 1 to the processing functionentity 1, and send the processing policy 2 to the processing functionentity 2.

It should be noted that, the first forwarding policy, the secondforwarding policy, and the processing policy generated in Embodiment 1are all specific to the traffic flow identifier 1. When traffic flowidentifiers are different, generated first forwarding policies, secondforwarding policies, and processing policies may also be different.

A sequence of performing operation 702, operation 703, and operation 704is not limited.

Operation 705. The base station receives the first forwarding policy.

Operation 706. The processing function entity 1 receives the processingpolicy 1 and the second forwarding policy 1.

Operation 707. The processing function entity 2 receives the processingpolicy 2 and the second forwarding policy 2.

A sequence of performing operation 705, operation 706, and operation 707is not limited.

When a packet that is sent by the UE and carries the traffic flowidentifier 1 reaches the base station, a procedure for processing andforwarding the packet is as follows.

Operation 708. The base station forwards, to the processing functionentity 1 according to the first forwarding policy, a packet that is sentby the UE and carries the traffic flow identifier 1.

Operation 709. After receiving the packet that is sent by the basestation and carries the traffic flow identifier 1, the processingfunction entity 1 processes the packet according to the processingpolicy 1, and forwards, to the processing function entity 2 according tothe second forwarding policy 1, a processed packet that carries thetraffic flow identifier 1.

Operation 710. After receiving the packet that is sent by the processingfunction entity 1 and carries the traffic flow identifier 1, theprocessing function entity 2 processes, according to the processingpolicy 2, the packet that carries the traffic flow identifier 1, andforwards, to the routing function entity according to the secondforwarding policy 2, a processed packet that carries the traffic flowidentifier 1.

Operation 711. After receiving the packet that is sent by the processingfunction entity 2 and carries the traffic flow identifier 1, the routingfunction entity forwards the packet to an external network.

According to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a forwarding plane is divided into a processing network(including N processing function entities) and a routing functionentity. The processing network is configured to process a packet, andtherefore, the processing network includes a computing resource. Therouting function entity serves as an anchor point of an IP address, andhas an address resource. When a network has insufficient addressresources, a routing function entity may be added. When the network hasinsufficient computing resources, a processing network may be added.Therefore, compared with the prior art, according to the method providedin this embodiment of the present disclosure, waste of an addressresource or a computing resource can be reduced.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, an example in which a packet sent by UE needs to beprocessed by a processing function entity 1 and a processing functionentity 2, and the UE sends a service request before sending the packetis used for describing Implementation 3. For related explanation in thisembodiment, refer to description in Implementation 3.

A method provided in this embodiment may be applied to the architectureof the network system shown in FIG. 18 or FIG. 20. When this embodimentis based on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 18,operation 801 to operation 804 are all performed by a controller. Whenthis embodiment is based on the architecture of the network system shownin FIG. 20, operation 801 is performed by a routing controller and aprocessing controller (an example in which the network system includes aprocessing controller and a routing controller is used in thisembodiment), operation 802 and operation 803 are performed by therouting controller, and operation 804 is performed by the processingcontroller.

As shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, in specific implementation, theforegoing method includes the following operations.

Operation 801. Receive a service request sent by the UE, and determine atraffic flow identifier 2 according to the service request.

Specifically, the service request includes the traffic flow identifier2. The traffic flow identifier 2 may be an IP address of the UE, IPquintuplets of a traffic flow, or the like.

Operation 802. Generate a first forwarding policy according to anidentifier of a forwarder and the traffic flow identifier 2, and sendthe first forwarding policy to a base station.

The identifier of the forwarder may be an IP address, a MAC address, aconnection port number, a tunnel identifier, or the like of theforwarder.

Operation 803. Generate a second forwarding policy according to thetraffic flow identifier 2, an identifier of the processing functionentity 1, an identifier of the processing function entity 2, and anidentifier of a routing function entity, and send the second forwardingpolicy to the forwarder.

It is assumed that the identifier of the routing function entity is B,the identifier of the processing function entity 1 is 1, and theidentifier of the processing function entity 2 is 2. In this case, aform of the second forwarding policy specific to the traffic flowidentifier 2 may be 1-2-B.

Operation 804. Generate, according to the traffic flow identifier 2, aprocessing policy 1 corresponding to the processing function entity 1and a processing policy 2 corresponding to the processing functionentity 2; and send the processing policy 1 to the processing functionentity 1, and send the processing policy 2 to the processing functionentity 2.

It should be noted that, the first forwarding policy, the secondforwarding policy, and the processing policy generated in Embodiment 2are all specific to the traffic flow identifier 2.

A sequence of performing operation 802, operation 803, and operation 804is not limited.

Operation 805. The base station receives the first forwarding policy.

Operation 806. The forwarder receives the second forwarding policy.

Operation 807. The processing function entity 1 receives the processingpolicy 1.

Operation 808. The processing function entity 2 receives the processingpolicy 2.

A sequence of performing operation 805, operation 806, operation 807,and operation 808 is not limited.

When a packet that is sent by the UE and carries the traffic flowidentifier 2 reaches the base station, a procedure for processing andforwarding the packet is as follows.

Operation 809. The base station forwards, to the forwarder according tothe first forwarding policy, a packet that is sent by the UE and carriesthe traffic flow identifier 2.

Operation 810. The forwarder forwards, to the processing function entity1 according to the second forwarding policy, the packet that is sent bythe base station and carries the traffic flow identifier 2.

Operation 811. After receiving the packet that is sent by the forwarderand carries the traffic flow identifier 2, the processing functionentity 1 processes the packet according to the processing policy 1, andthen forwards a processed packet to the forwarder.

Specifically, a next node corresponding to each processing functionentity may be preconfigured as the forwarder.

Operation 812. The forwarder forwards, to the processing function entity2 according to the second forwarding policy, the packet that is sent bythe processing function entity 1 and carries the traffic flow identifier2.

Operation 813. After receiving the packet that is sent by the forwarderand carries the traffic flow identifier 2, the processing functionentity 2 processes the packet according to the processing policy 2, andthen forwards a processed packet to the forwarder.

Operation 814. The forwarder forwards, to the routing function entityaccording to the second forwarding policy, the packet that is sent bythe processing function entity 2 and carries the traffic flow identifier2.

Operation 815. After receiving the packet that is sent by the forwarderand carries the traffic flow identifier 2, the routing function entityforwards the packet to an external network.

In Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, it should be noted that, the basestation may include multiple first forwarding policies corresponding tomultiple traffic flow identifiers. One traffic flow identifier iscorresponding to one first forwarding policy. When receiving a packet,the base station first determines, according to a traffic flowidentifier carried in the packet, a first forwarding policycorresponding to the traffic flow identifier, and then forwards thepacket according to the first forwarding policy. Actions performed bythe processing function entity, the forwarder, and the routing functionentity are similar to those performed by the base station. Therefore,the first forwarding policy, the second forwarding policy, and theprocessing policy all include a traffic flow identifier.

According to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a forwarding plane is divided into a processing network(including N processing function entities) and a routing functionentity. The processing network is configured to process a packet, andtherefore, the processing network includes a computing resource. Therouting function entity serves as an anchor point of an IP address, andhas an address resource. When a network has insufficient addressresources, a routing function entity may be added. When the network hasinsufficient computing resources, a processing network may be added.Therefore, compared with the prior art, according to the method providedin this embodiment of the present disclosure, waste of an addressresource or a computing resource can be reduced.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, an example in which a packet (that is, a downlinkpacket) sent by an external network needs to be processed by aprocessing function entity 1 and a processing function entity 2, and UEsends a service request before sending a packet is used for describingImplementation 4. For related explanation in this embodiment, refer todescription in Implementation 4.

A method provided in this embodiment may be applied to the architectureof the network system shown in FIG. 17 or FIG. 19. When this embodimentis based on the architecture of the network system shown in FIG. 17,operation 901 to operation 903 are all performed by a controller. Whenthis embodiment is based on the architecture of the network system shownin FIG. 19, operation 901 is performed by a routing controller and aprocessing controller (an example in which the network system includes aprocessing controller and a routing controller is used in thisembodiment), operation 902 is performed by the routing controller, andoperation 903 is performed by the processing controller.

As shown in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, in specific implementation, theforegoing method includes the following operations.

Operation 901. Receive a service request sent by the UE, and determine atraffic flow identifier 3 according to the service request.

Specifically, the service request includes the traffic flow identifier3. The traffic flow identifier 3 may be an IP address of the UE, IPquintuplets of a traffic flow, or the like.

Operation 902. Generate a first forwarding policy according to thetraffic flow identifier 3, an identifier of the processing functionentity 1, an identifier of the processing function entity 2, and anidentifier of a base station, and send the first forwarding policy to arouting function entity.

It is assumed that the identifier of the base station is A, theidentifier of the processing function entity 1 is 1, and the identifierof the processing function entity 2 is 2. In this case, a form of thefirst forwarding policy specific to the traffic flow identifier 3 may be1-2-A.

Operation 903. Generate, according to the traffic flow identifier 3, aprocessing policy 1 corresponding to the processing function entity 1and a processing policy 2 corresponding to the processing functionentity 2; and send the processing policy 1 to the processing functionentity 1, and send the processing policy 2 to the processing functionentity 2.

A sequence of performing operation 901, operation 902, and operation 903is not limited.

Operation 904. The routing function entity receives the first forwardingpolicy.

Operation 905. The processing function entity 1 receives the processingpolicy 1.

Operation 906. The processing function entity 2 receives the processingpolicy 2.

A sequence of performing operation 904, operation 905, and operation 906is not limited.

When a packet that is sent by the external network and carries thetraffic flow identifier 3 reaches the routing function entity, aprocedure for processing and forwarding the packet is as follows.

Operation 907. The routing function entity forwards, to the processingfunction entity 1 according to the first forwarding policy, a packetthat is sent by the external network and carries the traffic flowidentifier 3.

Operation 908. After receiving the packet that is sent by the routingfunction entity and carries the traffic flow identifier 3, theprocessing function entity 1 processes the packet according to theprocessing policy 1, and then forwards a processed packet to the routingfunction entity.

Specifically, a next node corresponding to each processing functionentity may be preconfigured as the routing function entity.

Operation 909. The routing function entity forwards, to the processingfunction entity 2 according to the first forwarding policy, the packetthat is sent by the processing function entity 1 and carries the trafficflow identifier 3.

Operation 910. After receiving the packet that is sent by the routingfunction entity and carries the traffic flow identifier 3, theprocessing function entity 2 processes the packet according to theprocessing policy 2, and then forwards a processed packet to the routingfunction entity.

Operation 911. The routing function entity forwards, to the base stationaccording to the first forwarding policy, the packet that is sent by theprocessing function entity 2 and carries the traffic flow identifier 3.

Operation 912. After receiving the packet that is sent by the routingfunction entity and carries the traffic flow identifier 3, the basestation forwards the packet to the UE.

It should be noted that, the routing function entity may includemultiple first forwarding policies corresponding to multiple trafficflow identifiers. One traffic flow identifier is corresponding to onefirst forwarding policy. When receiving a packet, the routing functionentity first determines, according to a traffic flow identifier carriedin the packet, a first forwarding policy corresponding to the trafficflow identifier, and then forwards the packet according to the firstforwarding policy. Actions performed by the processing function entityare similar to those performed by the routing function entity.Therefore, the first forwarding policy and the processing policy bothinclude a traffic flow identifier.

According to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a forwarding plane is divided into a processing network(including N processing function entities) and a routing functionentity. The processing network is configured to process a packet, andtherefore, the processing network includes a computing resource. Therouting function entity serves as an anchor point of an IP address, andhas an address resource. When a network has insufficient addressresources, a routing function entity may be added. When the network hasinsufficient computing resources, a processing network may be added.Therefore, compared with the prior art, according to the method providedin this embodiment of the present disclosure, waste of an addressresource or a computing resource can be reduced.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment of the present disclosure provides a controller 100,configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 10,the controller 100 includes:

a control unit 1001, configured to: control a first node to send areceived packet to a processing network, and control the processingnetwork to process the packet and then send a processed packet to asecond node. The first node is a base station or a network elementconnected to the base station, and the second node is a routing functionentity; or the first node is the routing function entity, and the secondnode is the base station or a network element connected to the basestation. The routing function entity is an anchor point of an InternetProtocol IP address of a user.

In one embodiment, the processing network includes at least oneprocessing function entity.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller 100 furtherincludes:

a sending unit 1002, configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node. The first forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to send the received packet to a first processing function entity,the first processing function entity is a processing function entity inthe processing network, the first forwarding policy is generatedaccording to an identifier of the first processing function entity and atraffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the traffic flowidentifier.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 1002 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy and a second forwarding policy to one ormore processing function entities in the processing network. Theprocessing policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the processing policy to process the received packet accordingto the processing policy, the second forwarding policy is used tocontrol a processing function entity that receives the second forwardingpolicy to forward, according to the second forwarding policy, the packetprocessed by the processing function entity, the one or more processingfunction entities include the first processing function entity, and theprocessing policy is generated according to the traffic flow identifier.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller 100 furtherincludes:

a sending unit 1002, configured to send a first forwarding policy to thefirst node. The first forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to forward the received packet to a forwarder, so that theforwarder forwards the packet to a first processing function entity. Thefirst processing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network.

In one embodiment, the sending unit 1002 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities in the processing network. The processing policy is used tocontrol a processing function entity that receives the processing policyto process, according to the processing policy, the received packet sentby the forwarder, and then send the processed packet to the forwarder.

The sending unit 1002 is further configured to send a second forwardingpolicy to the forwarder. The second forwarding policy is used to controlthe forwarder to forward the received packet according to the secondforwarding policy, so that the packet reaches the second node after thepacket is sequentially processed by the one or more processing functionentities.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller 100 furtherincludes:

a sending unit 1002, configured to send a corresponding processingpolicy to one or more processing function entities in the processingnetwork. The processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the processing policy to process, according to theprocessing policy, the received packet sent by the routing functionentity, and then send the processed packet to the routing functionentity.

The sending unit 1002 is further configured to send a first forwardingpolicy to the routing function entity. The first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities.

In one embodiment, when the first node is the base station or thenetwork element connected to the base station, the sending unit 1002 isfurther configured to send a second forwarding policy to the first node.The second forwarding policy is used to control the first node toforward the received packet to the routing function entity, so that therouting function entity forwards the packet to a first processingfunction entity according to the first forwarding policy. The firstprocessing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the controller 100 includes atleast one processing unit 1101 and a routing unit 1102.

The routing unit 1102 is configured to send the first forwarding policyand the second forwarding policy.

The at least one processing unit 1101 is configured to send theprocessing policy.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the controller 100 includes atleast one processing unit 1101 and a routing unit 1102.

The routing unit 1102 is configured to: send the first forwarding policyto the first node, and send the corresponding second forwarding policyto the one or more processing function entities.

The at least one processing unit 1101 is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities.

In one embodiment, the routing unit 1102 is further configured todetermine the traffic flow identifier, and send the traffic flowidentifier to the at least one processing unit 1101.

The at least one processing unit 1101 is further configured to: receivethe traffic flow identifier sent by the routing unit 1102, and generate,according to the traffic flow identifier, the processing policycorresponding to the one or more processing function entities.

In one embodiment, the at least one processing unit 1101 is furtherconfigured to determine the first processing function entity, and atarget processing unit 1101 sends the identifier of the first processingfunction entity to the routing unit 1102. The target processing unit1101 is any one of the at least one processing unit 1101.

The routing unit 1102 is further configured to: receive the identifierof the first processing function entity that is sent by the targetprocessing unit 1101, and generate the first forwarding policy accordingto the identifier of the first processing function entity and thetraffic flow identifier.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the controller 100 includes atleast one processing unit 1101 and a routing unit 1102.

The routing unit 1102 is configured to send the first forwarding policyto the first node.

The at least one processing unit 1101 is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities in the processing network. The processing policy includes thesecond forwarding policy.

It should be noted that, FIG. 11 is drawn by using an example in whichthe controller includes one processing unit.

This embodiment of the present disclosure provides a processing functionentity 120, configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, orFIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 12, the processing function entity 120includes:

a receiving unit 1201, configured to receive a processing policy;

an execution unit 1202, configured to process a received packetaccording to the processing policy; and

a forwarding unit 1203, configured to forward a processed packet.

In one embodiment, the receiving unit 1201 is further configured toreceive a second forwarding policy.

The forwarding unit 1203 is specifically configured to forward theprocessed packet according to the second forwarding policy.

According to the controller and the processing function entity providedin this embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller controlsthe processing function entity and the routing function entity in theprocessing network to process and forward a packet. The processingnetwork is configured to process the packet. The processing networkincludes a computing resource. The routing function entity serves as ananchor point of a user IP address, and has an address resource. When anetwork has insufficient address resources, a routing function entitymay be added. When the network has insufficient computing resources, aprocessing network may be added. Therefore, compared with the prior art,according to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, waste of an address resource or a computing resource can bereduced.

Embodiment 3

In hardware implementation, units in the controller in Embodiment 2 maybe built in or independent of a processor of the controller in ahardware form, or may be stored in a memory of the controller in asoftware form, so that the processor invokes and performs operationscorresponding to the units. The processor may be a central processingunit (CPU), a microprocessor, a single-chip microcomputer, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 13, this embodiment of the present disclosure providesanother controller 130, configured to perform the method shown inFIG. 1. The controller 130 includes a memory 1301, a processor 1302, anda bus system 1303.

The memory 1301 and the processor 1302 are coupled together by using thebus system 1303. The memory 1301 may include a random access memory, andmay also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one diskmemory. The bus system 1303 may be an ISA bus, a PCI bus, an EISA bus,or the like. The bus system 1303 may be categorized into an address bus,a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of representation, thebus system 1303 is represented by using only one thick line in FIG. 13.However, it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type ofbus.

The memory 1301 stores a group of code, and the code is used to controlthe processor 1302 to perform the following actions:

controlling a first node to send a received packet to a processingnetwork, and controlling the processing network to process the packetand then send a processed packet to a second node. The first node is abase station or a network element connected to the base station, and thesecond node is a routing function entity; or the first node is therouting function entity, and the second node is the base station or anetwork element connected to the base station. The routing functionentity is an anchor point of an Internet Protocol IP address of a user.

In one embodiment, the processing network includes at least oneprocessing function entity.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the controller 130 furtherincludes a transmitter 1304.

The transmitter 1304 is configured to send a first forwarding policy tothe first node. The first forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to send the received packet to a first processing function entity,the first processing function entity is a processing function entity inthe processing network, the first forwarding policy is generatedaccording to an identifier of the first processing function entity and atraffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the traffic flowidentifier.

In one embodiment, the transmitter 1304 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy and a second forwarding policy to one ormore processing function entities in the processing network. Theprocessing policy is used to control a processing function entity thatreceives the processing policy to process the received packet accordingto the processing policy, the second forwarding policy is used tocontrol a processing function entity that receives the second forwardingpolicy to forward, according to the second forwarding policy, the packetprocessed by the processing function entity, the one or more processingfunction entities include the first processing function entity, and theprocessing policy is generated according to the traffic flow identifier.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the controller 130 furtherincludes a transmitter 1304.

The transmitter 1304 is configured to send a first forwarding policy tothe first node. The first forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode to forward the received packet to a forwarder, so that theforwarder forwards the packet to a first processing function entity. Thefirst processing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network.

In one embodiment, the transmitter 1304 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities in the processing network. The processing policy is used tocontrol a processing function entity that receives the processing policyto process, according to the processing policy, the received packet sentby the forwarder, and then send the processed packet to the forwarder.

The transmitter 1304 is further configured to send a second forwardingpolicy to the forwarder. The second forwarding policy is used to controlthe forwarder to forward the received packet according to the secondforwarding policy, so that the packet reaches the second node after thepacket is sequentially processed by the one or more processing functionentities.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the controller 130 furtherincludes a transmitter 1304.

The transmitter 1304 is configured to send a corresponding processingpolicy to one or more processing function entities in the processingnetwork. The processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity that receives the processing policy to process, according to theprocessing policy, the received packet sent by the routing functionentity, and then send the processed packet to the routing functionentity.

The transmitter 1304 is further configured to send a first forwardingpolicy to the routing function entity. The first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node after the packet is sequentially processed bythe one or more processing function entities.

In one embodiment, when the first node is the base station or thenetwork element connected to the base station, the transmitter 1304 isfurther configured to send a second forwarding policy to the first node.The second forwarding policy is used to control the first node toforward the received packet to the routing function entity, so that therouting function entity forwards the packet to a first processingfunction entity according to the first forwarding policy. The firstprocessing function entity is a processing function entity in theprocessing network.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the controller 130 includes atleast one processing controller 1401 and a routing controller 1402.

The routing controller 1402 is configured to send the first forwardingpolicy and the second forwarding policy.

The at least one processing controller 1401 is configured to send theprocessing policy.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the controller 130 includes atleast one processing controller 1401 and a routing controller 1402.

The routing controller 1402 is configured to: send the first forwardingpolicy to the first node, and send the corresponding second forwardingpolicy to the one or more processing function entities.

The at least one processing controller 1401 is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities.

In one embodiment, the routing controller 1402 is further configured to:determine the traffic flow identifier, and send the traffic flowidentifier to the at least one processing controller 1401.

The at least one processing controller 1401 is further configured to:receive the traffic flow identifier sent by the routing controller 1402,and generate, according to the traffic flow identifier, the processingpolicy corresponding to the one or more processing function entities.

In one embodiment, the at least one processing controller 1401 isfurther configured to determine the first processing function entity,and a target processing controller 1401 sends the identifier of thefirst processing function entity to the routing controller 1402. Thetarget processing controller 1401 is any one of the at least oneprocessing controller 1401.

The routing controller 1402 is further configured to: receive theidentifier of the first processing function entity that is sent by thetarget processing controller 1401, and generate the first forwardingpolicy according to the identifier of the first processing functionentity and the traffic flow identifier.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the controller 130 includes atleast one processing controller 1401 and a routing controller 1402.

The routing controller 1402 is configured to send the first forwardingpolicy to the first node.

The at least one processing controller 1401 is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities in the processing network. The processing policy includes thesecond forwarding policy.

It should be noted that, FIG. 14 is drawn by using an example in whichthe controller includes one processing controller 1401.

In hardware implementation, units in the processing function entity inEmbodiment 2 may be built in or independent of a processor of theprocessing function entity in a hardware form, or may be stored in amemory of the processing function entity in a software form, so that theprocessor invokes and performs operations corresponding to the units.The processor may be a CPU, a microprocessor, a single-chipmicrocomputer, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 15, this embodiment of the present disclosure providesanother processing function entity 150, configured to perform the methodshown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, or FIG. 5. The processing function entity 150includes a receiver 1501, a memory 1502, a processor 1503, and a bussystem 1504.

The receiver 1501, the memory 1502, and the processor 1503 are coupledtogether by using the bus system 1504. The memory 1502 may include arandom access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, suchas at least one disk memory. The bus system 1504 may be an ISA bus, aPCI bus, an EISA bus, or the like. The bus system 1504 may becategorized into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and thelike. For ease of representation, the bus system 1504 is represented byusing only one thick line in FIG. 15. However, it does not mean thatthere is only one bus or only one type of bus.

The receiver 1501 is configured to receive a processing policy.

The memory 1502 stores a group of code, and the code is used to controlthe processor 1503 to perform the following actions: processing areceived packet according to the processing policy, and forwarding aprocessed packet.

In one embodiment, the receiver 1501 is further configured to receive asecond forwarding policy.

The processor 1503 is specifically configured to forward the processedpacket according to the second forwarding policy.

According to the controller and the processing function entity providedin this embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller controlsthe processing function entity and the routing function entity in theprocessing network to process and forward a packet. The processingnetwork is configured to process the packet. The processing networkincludes a computing resource. The routing function entity serves as ananchor point of a user IP address, and has an address resource. When anetwork has insufficient address resources, a routing function entitymay be added. When the network has insufficient computing resources, aprocessing network may be added. Therefore, compared with the prior art,according to the method provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, waste of an address resource or a computing resource can bereduced.

Embodiment 4

This embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a networksystem 160, configured to perform the method shown in FIG. 1. Forrelated explanation in this embodiment of the present disclosure, referto the foregoing embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16, the network system 160includes a controller 1601, and a first node 1602, a processing network1603, and a second node 1604 that are connected to the controller 1601.

The controller 1601 is configured to: control the first node 1602 tosend a received packet to the processing network 1603, and control theprocessing network 1603 to process the packet and then send a processedpacket to the second node 1604.

The processing network 1603 is configured to: receive the packet sent bythe first node 1602; and process, under control of the controller 1601,the packet and then send the processed packet to the second node 1604.

The first node 1602 is configured to: receive the packet, and send,under control of the controller 1601, the packet to the processingnetwork 1603.

The second node 1604 is configured to receive the packet sent by theprocessing network 1603.

The first node 1602 is a base station or a network element connected tothe base station, and the second node 1604 is a routing function entity;or the first node 1602 is the routing function entity, and the secondnode 1604 is the base station or a network element connected to the basestation. The routing function entity is an anchor point of an InternetProtocol IP address of a user.

It should be noted that, FIG. 16 to FIG. 20 are drawn by using anexample in which the first node is a base station and the second node isa processing function entity.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the processing network 1603includes at least one processing function entity 16031, and each of theat least one processing function entity 16031 is connected to thecontroller 1601.

FIG. 17 is drawn by using an example in which the processing network1603 includes four processing function entities 16031. For ease ofdescription in the foregoing specification, the four processing functionentities 16031 are respectively drawn as processing function entities 1,2, 3, and 4.

In one embodiment, the controller 1601 is specifically configured tosend a first forwarding policy to the first node 1602. The firstforwarding policy is used to control the first node 1602 to send thereceived packet to a first processing function entity 16031, the firstprocessing function entity 16031 is a processing function entity 16031in the processing network 1603, the first forwarding policy is generatedaccording to an identifier of the first processing function entity 16031and a traffic flow identifier, and the packet carries the traffic flowidentifier.

The first node 1602 is specifically configured to: receive the firstforwarding policy sent by the controller 1601, and forward the receivedpacket to the first processing function entity 16031 according to thefirst forwarding policy.

In one embodiment, the controller 1601 is specifically configured tosend a corresponding processing policy and a second forwarding policy toone or more processing function entities 16031 in the processing network1603. The processing policy is used to control a processing functionentity 16031 that receives the processing policy to process the receivedpacket according to the processing policy, the second forwarding policyis used to control a processing function entity 16031 that receives thesecond forwarding policy to forward, according to the second forwardingpolicy, the packet processed by the processing function entity 16031,the one or more processing function entities 16031 include the firstprocessing function entity 16031, and the processing policy is generatedaccording to the traffic flow identifier.

Each of the one or more processing function entities 16031 isspecifically configured to: receive a processing policy and a secondforwarding policy that are corresponding to the processing functionentity 16031 and are sent by the controller 1601, process the receivedpacket according to the processing policy, and forward, according to thesecond forwarding policy, the packet processed by the processingfunction entity 16031.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the system further includes aforwarder 1605 connected to the controller 1601.

The controller 1601 is specifically configured to send a firstforwarding policy to the first node 1602. The first forwarding policy isused to control the first node 1602 to forward the received packet tothe forwarder 1605.

The first node 1602 is specifically configured to: receive the firstforwarding policy sent by the controller 1601, and forward the receivedpacket to the forwarder 1605 according to the first forwarding policy.

The forwarder 1605 is configured to: receive the packet sent by thefirst node 1602, and forward the packet to a first processing functionentity 16031. The first processing function entity 16031 is a processingfunction entity 16031 in the processing network 1603.

FIG. 18 is drawn by using an example in which the processing network1603 includes two processing function entities 16031. For ease ofdescription in the foregoing specification, the two processing functionentities 16031 are respectively drawn as processing function entities 1and 2.

In one embodiment, the controller 1601 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities 16031 in the processing network 1603. The processing policy isused to control a processing function entity 16031 that receives theprocessing policy to process, according to the processing policy, thereceived packet sent by the forwarder 1605, and then send the processedpacket to the forwarder 1605.

The controller 1601 is further configured to send a second forwardingpolicy to the forwarder 1605. The second forwarding policy is used tocontrol the forwarder 1605 to forward the received packet according tothe second forwarding policy.

The forwarder 1605 is specifically configured to: receive the secondforwarding policy sent by the controller 1601, and forward the receivedpacket according to the second forwarding policy, so that the packetreaches the second node 1604 after the packet is sequentially processedby the one or more processing function entities 16031.

Each of the one or more processing function entities 16031 isspecifically configured to: receive a processing policy that iscorresponding to the processing function entity 16031 and is sent by thecontroller 1601; and process, according to the processing policy, thereceived packet sent by the forwarder 1605, and then send the processedpacket to the forwarder 1605.

In one embodiment, the controller 1601 is further configured to send acorresponding processing policy to one or more processing functionentities 16031 in the processing network 1603. The processing policy isused to control a processing function entity 16031 that receives theprocessing policy to process, according to the processing policy, thereceived packet sent by the routing function entity, and then send theprocessed packet to the routing function entity.

The controller 1601 is further configured to send a first forwardingpolicy to the routing function entity. The first forwarding policy isused to control the routing function entity to forward the receivedpacket according to the first forwarding policy.

The routing function entity is specifically configured to: receive thefirst forwarding policy sent by the controller 1601, and forward thereceived packet according to the first forwarding policy, so that thepacket reaches the second node 1604 after the packet is sequentiallyprocessed by the one or more processing function entities 16031.

Each of the one or more processing function entities 16031 isspecifically configured to: receive a processing policy that iscorresponding to the processing function entity 16031 and is sent by thecontroller 1601; and process, according to the processing policy, thereceived packet sent by the routing function entity, and then send theprocessed packet to the routing function entity.

In one embodiment, when the first node 1602 is the base station or thenetwork element connected to the base station, the controller 1601 isfurther configured to send a second forwarding policy to the first node1602, where the second forwarding policy is used to control the firstnode 1602 to forward the received packet to the routing function entity;

the first node 1602 is specifically configured to: receive the secondforwarding policy sent by the controller 1601, and forward the receivedpacket to the routing function entity according to the second forwardingpolicy; and the routing function entity is configured to: receive thepacket sent by the first node 1602, and forward the packet to the firstprocessing function entity 16031 according to the first forwardingpolicy.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the controller 1601 includes atleast one processing controller 16011 and a routing controller 16012.The routing controller 16012 is connected to the first node 1602, thesecond node 1604, and the one or more processing function entities16031, and each of the one or more processing function entities 16031 isconnected to at least one of the processing controller 16011.

The routing controller 16012 is specifically configured to: send thefirst forwarding policy to the first node 1602, and send thecorresponding second forwarding policy to the one or more processingfunction entities 16031.

The at least one processing controller 16011 is specifically configuredto send the corresponding processing policy to the one or moreprocessing function entities 16031.

It should be noted that, FIG. 19 is drawn by using an example in whichthe controller includes one processing function entity 16011 and theprocessing network 1603 includes four processing function entities16031. For ease of description in the foregoing specification, the fourprocessing function entities 16031 are respectively drawn as processingfunction entities 1, 2, 3, and 4.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the routing controller 16012 isconnected to each of the at least one processing controller 16011.

The routing controller 16012 is further configured to: determine thetraffic flow identifier, and send the traffic flow identifier to the atleast one processing controller 16011.

The at least one processing controller 16011 is further configured to:receive the traffic flow identifier sent by the routing controller16012, and generate, according to the traffic flow identifier, theprocessing policy corresponding to the one or more processing functionentities 16031.

In one embodiment, the at least one processing controller 16011 isfurther configured to determine the first processing function entity16031, and a target processing controller 16011 sends the identifier ofthe first processing function entity 16031 to the routing controller16012. The target processing controller 16011 is any one of the at leastone processing controller 16011.

The routing controller 16012 is further configured to: receive theidentifier of the first processing function entity 16031 that is sent bythe target processing controller 16011, and generate the firstforwarding policy according to the identifier of the first processingfunction entity 16031 and the traffic flow identifier.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the controller 1601 includes atleast one processing controller 16011 and a routing controller 16012.The routing controller 16012 is connected to the first node 1602 and thesecond node 1604, and each of the one or more processing functionentities 16031 is connected to at least one of the processing controller16011.

The routing controller 16012 is configured to send the first forwardingpolicy to the first node 1602.

The at least one processing controller 16011 is configured to send thecorresponding processing policy to the one or more processing functionentities 16031. The processing policy includes the second forwardingpolicy.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20, the controller 1601 includes atleast one processing controller 16011 and a routing controller 16012.The routing controller 16012 is connected to the first node 1602, thesecond node 1604, and the forwarder 1605, and each of the one or moreprocessing function entities 16031 is connected to at least one of theprocessing controller 16011.

The routing controller 16012 is specifically configured to: send thefirst forwarding policy to the first node 1602, and send the secondforwarding policy to the forwarder 1605.

The at least one processing controller 16011 is specifically configuredto send the corresponding processing policy to the one or moreprocessing function entities 16031.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the controller 1601 includes atleast one processing controller 16011 and a routing controller 16012.The routing controller 16012 is connected to the first node 1602 and thesecond node 1604, and each of the N processing function entities 16031is connected to at least one of the processing controller 16011.

The routing controller 16012 is specifically configured to: send thefirst forwarding policy to the routing function entity, and send thesecond forwarding policy to the first node 1602.

The at least one processing controller 16011 is specifically configuredto send the corresponding processing policy to the one or moreprocessing function entities 16031.

It should be noted that, FIG. 20 is drawn by using an example in whichthe controller includes two processing controllers 16011 and theprocessing network 1603 includes two processing function entities 16031.For ease of description in the foregoing specification, the twoprocessing function entities 16031 are respectively drawn as processingfunction entities 1 and 2.

According to the system provided in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a forwarding plane is divided into a processing network anda routing function entity. The processing network is configured toprocess a packet, and therefore, the processing network includes acomputing resource. The routing function entity serves as an anchorpoint of an IP address, and has an address resource. When a network hasinsufficient address resources, a routing function entity may be added.When the network has insufficient computing resources, a processingnetwork may be added. Therefore, compared with the prior art, accordingto the method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure,waste of an address resource or a computing resource can be reduced.

In all the embodiments, a packet transmitted between any two nodes inthe network system can be forwarded by a forwarding device (for example,a router). Correspondingly, forwarding policies also need to beadjusted.

It may be clearly understood by persons skilled in the art that, for thepurpose of convenient and brief description, division of the foregoingfunction modules is taken as an example for illustration. In actualapplication, the foregoing functions can be allocated to differentfunction modules for implementation according to a requirement, that is,an inner structure of an apparatus is divided into different functionmodules to implement all or some of the functions described above. For adetailed working process of the foregoing apparatus and module, refer toa corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments. Details arenot described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it shouldbe understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implementedin other manners. For example, the described apparatus embodiment ismerely an example. For example, the module division is merely logicalfunction division and may be other division in actual implementation.For example, multiple modules or components may be combined orintegrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or notperformed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings ordirect couplings or communication connections may be implemented throughsome interfaces, or the indirect couplings or communication connectionsbetween the apparatuses or units.

In addition, function modules in the embodiments in the presentdisclosure may be integrated into one processing module, or each of themodules may exist alone physically, or two or more modules areintegrated into one module. The integrated module may be implemented ina form of hardware, or may be implemented in a form of a softwarefunction module.

The foregoing embodiments are merely intended for describing thetechnical solutions of the present disclosure, but not for limiting thepresent disclosure. Although the present disclosure is described indetail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, persons of ordinaryskill in the art should understand that they may still makemodifications to the technical solutions described in the foregoingembodiments or make equivalent replacements to some technical featuresthereof, without departing from the spirit and scope of the technicalsolutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of service processing, comprising:sending, by a controller, a first forwarding policy to a routingfunction device, wherein the routing function device is an anchor pointof an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a user equipment (UE), the firstforwarding policy comprises identification information of a processingfunction device and identification information of a traffic flow;receiving, by the routing function device, the first forwarding policyfrom the controller; sending, by the controller, a second forwardingpolicy to the processing function device; receiving, by the processingfunction device, the second forwarding policy from the controller;receiving, by the routing function device, a packet from an externalnetwork, and sending the packet to the processing function deviceaccording to the first forwarding policy, wherein the packet comprisesthe identification information of the traffic flow; and receiving, bythe processing function device, the packet from the routing functiondevice, and sending the packet a base station according to the secondforwarding policy.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein theidentification information of the traffic flow comprises an IP addressof the UE, or IP quintuplets of the traffic flow.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the identification information of theprocessing function device comprises a tunnel identifier of theprocessing function device.
 4. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe second forwarding policy comprises identification information of thebase station and the identification information of the traffic flow. 5.The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending, by thecontroller, a processing policy to the processing function device;receiving, by the processing function device, the processing policy fromthe controller; and processing, by the processing function device, thereceived packet according to the processing policy.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the processing policy comprises theidentification information of the traffic flow.
 7. The method accordingto claim 5, where the processing operation comprises: executing, by theprocessing function device, at least one of quality of service (QoS)control, online/offline charging, deep packet inspection (DPI), lawfulinterception, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) acceleration, orHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header enrichment to the receivedpacket.
 8. A service processing system, comprising: a controller, thatsends a first forwarding policy and a second forwarding policy, whereinthe first forwarding policy comprises identification information of aprocessing function device and identification information of a trafficflow; a routing function device, that is an anchor point of an InternetProtocol (IP) address of a user equipment (UE), receives the firstforwarding policy from the controller; receives a packet from anexternal network, and sends the packet to the processing function deviceaccording to the first forwarding policy, wherein the packet comprisesthe identification information of the traffic flow; and the processingfunction device, that receives the second forwarding policy from thecontroller; receives the packet from the routing function device, andsends the packet a base station according to the second forwardingpolicy.
 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the identificationinformation of the traffic flow comprises an IP address of the UE, or IPquintuplets of the traffic flow.
 10. The system according to claim 8,wherein the identification information of the processing function devicecomprises a tunnel identifier of the processing function device.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 8, wherein the second forwarding policycomprises identification information of the base station and theidentification information of the traffic flow.
 12. The system accordingto claim 8, the controller further sends a processing policy to theprocessing function device; the processing function device receives theprocessing policy and processes the received packet according to theprocessing policy.
 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein theprocessing policy comprises the identification information of thetraffic flow.
 14. The system according to claim 12, where the processingfunction device executes at least one of quality of service (QoS)control, online/offline charging, deep packet inspection (DPI), lawfulinterception, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) acceleration, orHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) header enrichment to the receivedpacket.